


it’s us against the calamity

by cryptibug



Category: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Video Game), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Implied Smut, M/M, Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), astor hate club, im including a lot of my headcanons, let kohga say fuck, sooga survives, starts at the beginning of aoc, yiga husbands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28107258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryptibug/pseuds/cryptibug
Summary: the yiga clan was doing well, and master kohga and sooga were happy. but as tension increases and the calamity approaches, a new ally to the yiga clan ends up becoming its downfall. kohga realizes who and what he’s really fighting for.
Relationships: Master Kohga/Sooga
Comments: 20
Kudos: 83





	1. introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my descriptions of kohga and sooga’s appearance are very much inspired by ballpitbee on tumblr’s interpretation of them !!!! their art is amazing, give them a follow :)

It seemed that the entire Yiga Clan knew that Master Kohga and his right hand Sooga were in love—except Kohga and Sooga themselves. Sure, they’d hooked up plenty of times, and didn’t hold back from showing affection to one another, and basically fit the definition of a couple—but in these times, other things were on their mind rather than establishing a formal relationship. Momentous events approached, so they had no time for silly love confessions or anything of the sort.

And yet, there Kohga sat, kicking his feet like a child as Sooga applied black hair dye to his white roots. Since most members of the clan were Sheikah, a known tradition that counted as initiation into the clan was to dye their white hair black. It symbolized rebellion, and rejecting the life one was raised in, to convert to deviance. A few months had passed since Kohga touched up his hair, so he’d asked Sooga to help him fix his roots. Both knew that Kohga was more than capable of doing this on his own, but they took the chance of sharing a quiet and rather tender moment together.

They sat, unmasked and in their loungewear (for the majority of the clan now slept, save a few night guards) in Kohga’s quarters, a spacious and cozy room that Sooga spent more time in than his own quarters. Kohga sat on a cushion on the floor while Sooga sat at the foot of Kohga’s bed, applying the dye.

“That whole deal with that Sheikah tower coming up outta nowhere... and that weird guardian... whaddaya think it means?” Kohga asked.

“My guess? It’s no aid to us. I have no doubt that it’s going to serve as a technological advantage to the enemy. We need to stay on our toes.” Sooga answered.

Kohga grunted. “I guess we were too comfortable for too long. At least we got some new recruits.”

“Yes... though they do need plentiful training before they’re qualified to fight in the name of our clan.”

“Well, that’s what this time is for! We’ll stand by and wait for more news from the spies while the rookies train. There’s not much else to do yet, really.” Kohga rubbed the back of his neck.

“Something appears to be troubling you, Master Kohga.” Sooga said gently.

“Ugh, you know you don’t have to call me that when it’s just us. But, yeah. I guess I was happy with not having that much going on. It was just you and me hanging out here, without responsibility. I’m gonna have to take less naps!”

Sooga chuckled. “Perhaps we can work around the schedule to make sure you get your naps in. I’m done with the dye, now, it just needs to settle.”

Sooga set aside the now empty wooden bowl that had contained the dye, and Kohga got up and plopped onto the bed next to the other man. “Hey, you wanna stay here tonight? It’s been awhile.”

Sooga smiled: a rare expression that only Kohga ever got to see without his mask to conceal it. Kohga studied Sooga’s face: warm tan skin, similar to that of a Gerudo’s, for his mother was a Gerudo herself. The scar on his face started above his left eyebrow and ran through it, leaving a slit where the eyebrow hair didn’t grow (narrowly avoiding his left eye), and through the bridge of his nose, long and with a downturned, pointed end; and ended roughly in the center of his right cheek. Sooga did have some Sheikah blood in him, but unlike Kohga, his hair, long and wavy, was naturally black. During the day he tied it up, but as of now it fell gracefully at his shoulders. “I’d love to. Also, you’re staring.”

“You can’t just smile at me like that and expect me  not to stare, ya big hunk,” Kohga playfully nudged him, admirably looking into his deep brown eyes with just a hint of red.

Now it was Sooga’s turn to stare. Kohga’s face contradicted Sooga’s with rounder and softer features. His complexion was a medium brown—darker than Sooga’s—and his nose round and flat. His (mostly) black hair grew in unruly, fluffy curls, not much shorter in length than Sooga’s, but appeared a good bit shorter due to shrinkage. He used to dye his thick white eyebrows black in addition to his hair, but he didn’t like how they looked once the white started to grow back in, and he now rarely dyed them. His maroon eyes, which one may typically associate with evil, gazed into Sooga’s with a look of pure fondness. Sooga couldn’t help but lean in and place a kiss on his cheek.

“Lemme guess, I’m so gorgeous that you were compelled to kiss me?” Kohga grabbed Sooga’s hand and guided it to his own cheek.

“Who could resist the magnificent Master Kohga’s strikingly good looks?” Sooga played along, gently brushing Kohga’s cheek with his thumb, his hand rather large for Kohga’s face.

Kohga melted into Sooga’s touch and closed his eyes with a sigh. “This is what I’m scared of, Sooga. As we get busier and the Hylians start breathing on our necks, we’ll have less time for moments like this.”

Sooga frowned. “I—me too, Kohga. But whatever happens, I promise I’ll be by your side through everything, just as I’ve always been.”

Kohga opened his eyes and offered his pinky finger. “Pinky promise?”

Sooga nodded and hooked his free pinky finger with Kohga’s. “Pinky promise.”

After rinsing out his hair, Kohga returned to his quarters to see Sooga pulling his tunic over his head. He was nowhere near new to this sight, yet his face still grew warm upon looking at Sooga’s bare chest. Kohga cleared his throat awkwardly. “Er, getting ready for bed?”

“Well, with all that talk about cherishing our moments together, I thought maybe we could do something else first,” Sooga grinned as he tossed his shirt aside, a flirty glint in his eyes.

“I like the way you think, Sooga.”

It wasn’t long before their lips met and Kohga pulled Sooga onto his bed, the larger man towering over him as Kohga coaxed him into leaving a trail of lovebites down his neck, muttering words of praise in between heavy breaths. They no longer made the effort to attempt to stay quiet in fear of the night guards hearing them—they really had no clue if they could—but they didn’t care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> won’t be writing any actual smut for this fic, it’ll only be the fade to black stuff, but we can all agree that kohga is a power bottom, right? and sooga is definitely a soft top


	2. increasing anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a new ally presents himself and provides a plan. sooga distrusts this newcomer, and worries for kohga as tough battles approach.

The next week was a busy one; the new recruits trained vigorously while news spread that Zelda and her party had taken control of Divine Beast Vah Ruta, with Princess Mipha of the Zora as its pilot. The party now headed to Goron City.

As much as Kohga tried to relax, the need for a plan nagged at the back of his mind. He wished he knew what to do, and it was only a matter of time before the Yiga Clan needed to make their move.

Sooga and Kohga’s duties split up for the majority of the day, so they hadn’t seen much of each other. They decided to take a stroll outside the valley, taking a path in the highlands without having to do any actual climbing. After finding a spot with desert view, the two sat at the cliff’s ledge.

“We should go on walks more often, Sooga. This is real nice,” Kohga held himself up with his palms behind him.

Sooga merely sighed. “If only we had the time for that.”

Kohga simply  _hmpf_ ’d and laid back onto the rock, gazing up at the orange sky. “Youch! I don’t know why I thought that would be comfortable.” He sat back up and leaned on Sooga instead.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, watching the desert as the sun set. Sooga eventually spoke up. “I hate to scotch this moment, Master Kohga, but we should return soon. Duty calls.”

Kohga let out a long groan, but started to pick himself up. Sooga hopped to his feet and helped pull him up (despite Kohga not really needing it.)

As they made their way back to the hideout, one of the soldiers (who Kohga recognized as one of the front guards) crossed paths with them. “Master Kohga!I was looking for you. There’s a sorcerer waiting for you at the front. We don’t know who he is.”

Kohga and Sooga exchanged a look. “A sorcerer? Lemme see this shit...” Kohga grumbled.

They approached the entrance to the hideout to see a cloaked figure. Upon hearing their footsteps, the figure turned around to face them, revealing his eerily pale face. “Ah, you must be the esteemed Master Kohga. It’s truly not a wise move to wander from your hideout like that. If your guards hadn’t stopped me, I could’ve waltzed right in.”

“That’s why we have guards,” Sooga muttered to himself, already disliking this sorcerer.

“I got three questions for ya, who are you, why are you here, and how the hell did you even find this place?” Kohga demanded, completely disregarding the sorcerer’s personal space by jabbing his finger at his chest.

The cloaked man smiled, but it lacked sincerity. It rather seemed that he was just baring his teeth. “I can provide the answer to all those questions and more if you let me in. It would not be sagacious to turn me away, I warn you.”

Kohga grabbed Sooga’s shoulder and pulled him aside, turning his back to the sorcerer. He lowered his voice. “Whatcha thinkin’, Sooga?”

“He seems far from trustworthy, but I’d be lying if I said he doesn’t seem powerful.”

“My thoughts exactly. On another day I’d tell him to get lost, but with all that Divine Beast biz, I think we can at least hear him out.”

Sooga nodded in agreement, wishing it hadn’t come to this.

The three entered the hideout, the sorcerer closely watched by the armed guards. He walked with a careless confidence, like he knew exactly what he was doing. Kohga, skeptical but intrigued, differed from Sooga, who already hated this newcomer. They decided to take their business to the war room.

“I’m waiting for those questions to be answered, three-eyes,” Kohga crossed his arms as he took a seat.

“Of course, Master Kohga, I am true to my word. My name is Astor, and I am a chosen prophet by Calamity Ganon itself. It is a known fact that the Yiga Clan serves Ganon, so I come here seeking allyship. My connections led me here to Karusa Valley, and I can assure you that I was not followed, and this location remains secret.” Astor then conjured an ancient core tainted with malice. “Much of my power derives from this core. It will be a valuable asset against Princess Zelda and her party.”

Sooga eyed the core, reflecting on Astor’s words. “What do you have to gain from this? How do we know you don’t have ulterior motives?”

“It’s not about what I have to gain, but what  _we_ have to gain. I am the key to Ganon’s revival, and you need me to defeat the enemy. And as for the second query, you don’t know,” Astor chuckled wickedly. “But what other choice do you have? I don’t suppose your clan could singlehandedly take down a Divine Beast, or multiple, as there soon will be?”

Kohga huffed. He looked to Sooga, who gave him a reluctant nod. “Alright. You’re in. Meeting over, I’m tired. You can tell us more about your weird magic tomorrow,” He looked to the two guards at the door. “Luyo, Kall, take him to his quarters.”

“And, um, where would that be, Master Kohga?” Luyo asked.

“Oh, right. How about that spare room in the west wing? Y’know which one I’m talking about?”

“Yes sir.”

As Luyo started to escort Astor out, Kohga tapped Kall’s soldier and pulled him aside. “Whoever’s taking the night shift—Tiron, right? Tell him to stay close by Astor’s room. Direct orders from me.”

Kall nodded and followed the others out the room, leaving Kohga and Sooga.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Kohga removed his mask and grabbed a banana from a bowl at the table’s center, unpeeling it. “I already know you don’t like him.”

Sooga took this as a sign that he had permission to take his mask off as well, and followed suit, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Based off of first impressions, he’s a power hungry rat. But as much as I hate to admit it, he is correct about being our only choice.”

Kohga swallowed a piece of his banana. “He may have that glowy shit, but I still have power over him. If he steps outta line, I can put him in his place. Master Kohga is always on top! Well, not always.” He met Sooga’s eyes and winked.

Though used to Kohga’s flirting, Sooga couldn’t help but become flustered. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Is there anything you need before you turn in for the night?”

Kohga finished off his banana, leaving the peel on the table, then stood up and stretched, grunting over-exaggeratedly. “No, don’t think so. You can turn in early tonight, too. Try and get that Astor out of your mind and relax. Everything’s gonna be fine. Here—come closer.”

Sooga did as told, and Kohga stood on his toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “C’mon.”

Sooga drew a deep breath. “Alright.”

Sooga followed Kohga out, disposing of his banana peel for him (a task he’d done many times before.) They walked together to their quarters, diverting their conversation from the former serious topic to discuss their favorite banana-related meal. At the end of the corridor, the path split off, Kohga’s quarters to the left and Sooga’s to the right. Kohga stopped and patted Sooga’s arm. “Welp, as always, you know where to find me if you need me. Goodnight, Sooga.”

Sooga bowed his head. “Goodnight, Master Kohga.”

Kohga reached up and ruffled the loose strands of hair framing Sooga’s face (they hadn’t bothered to put their masks back on.) “You don’t need to be so serious all the time.”

Sooga’s face softened with a smile. “I’m just doing my job.”

“I know, and I appreciate it. Sleep well, soldier.”

****   
  


That next day, they learned more about Astor and his plans. This seemed to relax Kohga about letting him stay, but Sooga was still far from comfortable with the dark sorcerer’s presence. But he was loyal to Kohga, and though Kohga valued Sooga’s opinion on many matters handled by their clan, whatever Kohga says goes.

Some thought that Sooga seemed more suitable as the clan’s leader. He appeared to take matters more seriously, and with a more head-on approach. But power was never Sooga’s goal. All Sooga wanted was to protect Kohga and stay close to him. The Yiga Clan served Ganon, but Sooga served—and loved—Master Kohga. He knew that Kohga was smarter and braver than he let on. He knew that Astor couldn’t best the pair with whatever he had planned—or so he hoped.

The rest of the day dragged on with training drills. Sooga spent a few hours helping out; though he hadn’t been ordered to do this, far too many of the trainees didn’t seem to know what they were doing and needed an extra push from an expert. Kohga studied the training and gave tips to those who needed it, and watched Sooga show off his moves every so often. 

Sooga excused himself after talking to a blademaster and found Kohga standing nearby. “We need to talk.”

Kohga pushed himself off the wooden pillar he’d been leaning on. “What’s up, sweetcheeks?”

“Astor. Even with everything he told us earlier, he still hasn’t suggested a plan. Perhaps my anxiety is making me impatient, but I think we should see him again.”

“Hmm. You do have a point. It seems like he told us everything  but what to do next... Alright. Let’s go.”

They found Astor back in the war room. He stood facing the pedestal, with its usual bananas, in addition to a strange device that neither of the Yiga recognized. “Hmm,” Astor hummed, his back to Kohga and Sooga. “I had a feeling you’d be back. I do have something to show you, conveniently.”

Astor turned around and moved aside to reveal a small guardian, glowing purple with malice.

“Okay, now what the fuck is that?” Kohga tilted his head as he stared at the odd guardian.

“This here is my harbinger. It is possessed by Calamity Ganon, and will with no doubt be a useful tool—or weapon, even—in the near future. Soon it will bend to my will and serve its purpose.” 

Sooga silently inspected the guardian while Kohga spoke up. “Alright, cool, we have a Ganon-bot on our side. Sooga and I are here because we—“ He gestured to himself. “—the Yiga Clan—need a plan. The enemy is probably in Goron City by now, and if they can get that Divine Beast, then—“

“Tsk tsk tsk, no need to worry, Master Kohga. I’ve heard word from some of your spies that Chief Urbosa of the Gerudo will be leaving her town soon for a couple days,” Astor interrupted.

“How did  _you_ hear first from  _my_ spies and not me?” Kohga started to put the pieces together. “Ugh, whatever... so what I’m getting at is that I’m gonna strike while she’s gone?”

“Precisely. If Princess Zelda and her party continue to move at the same pace without interruptions, they will arrive at Gerudo Town when Urbosa is gone, the very person they wish to see. Except, she won’t be gone, because you will take her stead, Master Kohga.”

Sooga broke his silence. “A disguise...”

Astor grinned. “I’m aware of the Yiga Clan’s ability to take the form of another person. Masters of stealth, you are. So, Master Kohga, you should be able to impersonate Chief Urbosa with ease, correct?”

Kohga flicked his wrist dismissively. “Piece of cake! Taking out the princess under the guise of her own ally, now  that’s juicy!”

“Then it’s settled,” Astor declared. “We will observe and wait until the time is right.”

Sooga’s anxiety, rather than being put to rest, only elevated. After leaving the war room with Kohga, he suggested they talk to the spies. “I want to hear the entirety of their news. We need to seek out all of the information we can.” He said.

At dinner, Kohga and Sooga found Onta, who’d returned from her spying shift earlier in the day. “Please tell us, Onta,” Sooga took a seat across from her as Kohga did the same. “What’s the full report?”

“As I left, they’d just made it to Goron City. They’re trying to make their way up Death Mountain.” Onta shoveled a scoop of curry rice into her mouth before speaking again. “Also, there’s this new knight staying close by Zelda. He’s maybe her age, I’m not sure, kind of a small kid, but he’s powerful. Can’t underestimate him.”

Kohga and Sooga exchanged a look. They actually met eyes since they had removed their masks (as did everyone else) to eat dinner. “So this kid, he’s another threat?” Kohga asked.

Onta nodded. “Impa, the royal advisor, is travelling with them too. Her plus this knight, Link, give Zelda a pretty solid defense. You’ll have to be ready to deal with them.”

Kohga rubbed his chin. “Alright, another obstacle... nothing the magnificent Master Kohga can’t beat! Enjoy your dinner.” He and Sooga left to retrieve their food.

The pair took a seat at a table at the upper level, overlooking the dining hall. “Kohga, please understand that I don’t doubt your ability, but I’m concerned about this upcoming mission.” Sooga said after a bite of curry rice.

“I understand, you’re afraid of your sexy, honorable leader going back into the face of danger... but don’t worry! You know I can handle myself, right?” Kohga placed his hand on Sooga’s shoulder.

“...I do. I just wish for you to be careful.”

“I will, I will... and hey, if anything goes wrong, I can count on you to save my ass, right?”

Sooga nodded and his worried expression softened. “Of course.”

That night, Sooga laid awake, unable to relax, despite his body feeling heavy with the need for sleep. Kohga seemed to now be excited about the upcoming danger, despite formerly complaining about a change in routine. This was only the beginning of the end. Tough battles awaited them, and Sooga didn’t feel mentally ready, even if he was physically. The possibility of Kohga getting hurt or worse caused his heart to ache. He wouldn’t let that happen. He  _couldn’t._

But what Sooga didn’t know—Kohga feigned his excitement. He knew the princess would be no threat without her power, but what of the knight? Could he be the knight who seals the darkness? He hoped to fake his confidence until it was real—but until then, he, too, laid awake in his bed. After he couldn’t put up with it any longer, he dragged himself out of bed and headed toward Sooga’s quarters. He hadn’t noticed Sooga walking straight towards him until he bumped into him.

Kohga looked up. “Oh—you’re up. I couldn’t sleep, so I was gonna come visit you.”

“I happened to be doing the same,” Sooga smiled sleepily. “Shall we go to your quarters? Your bed is bigger.”

“Ah, but you see, Sooga, your bed is smaller, which means that if we share it, we’re closer together. And that’s what I want.” Kohga pulled him into a quick kiss.

Sooga hadn’t expected it and didn’t react as he wanted to, so he leaned in and kissed Kohga back, a real kiss, shutting his eyes and holding the back of Kohga’s neck, his fingers running through his unkempt curls. They stood there for a moment, holding each other close. Sooga then interlaced his fingers with Kohga’s and led him to his quarters.

Not long after they settled into Sooga’s bed, Sooga’s arms wrapped snug around Kohga (to keep warm from the cold desert chill, surely not just because he wanted to hold him close), they fell into a peaceful sleep. From now on, they spent all their nights in the same bed.


	3. a failed mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a mission to take out the princess doesn’t go as planned, causing tension to rise with astor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made up a gerudo phrase for this, it’s a shame that we only know a few phrases. also i dont like writing fight scenes so i tried my best to kinda skip the meat of the battle while still making sure it flows well and is easy to follow

“Thank you all for meeting me here,” Kohga paced in the war room, his hands behind his back. Sooga stood at the front, while four blademasters sat, listening to Kohga. “I mean, of course you did, you always obey my orders. Anyway! Princess Zelda and her party are on the way to Gerudo Town, and the Yiga Clan is gonna strike while Chief Urbosa is away. The plan is pretty straightforward. I’ll show up disguised as Urbosa, and Sooga will disguise as a Gerudo guard to give me support. If all goes well, you guys can just hang out here while we do the work. And to think it’s usually the other way around!”

Kohga informed them of the backup plan: if something goes wrong, he’ll summon the blademasters and their footsoldiers. With extra arms by their side, they should be able to defeat the enemy. But, worst case scenario, everything falls apart, then everyone will retreat. But Kohga seriously doubted it would come to that.

“Kohga?” Sooga asked that night as they prepared for bed.

“Mhm?” Kohga pulled his nightshirt over his head.

“If this mission is successful, meaning the princess is taken out, what will be the Yiga Clan’s next course of action?”

“Heh, wow, I honestly didn’t even think that far. But I guess we’ll revive Calamity Ganon, wreak havoc across Hyrule, that kind of stuff. That answer your question?”

“Hm.”

Kohga sat down next to Sooga on the bed. “You seem upset again. Can I braid your hair? It’s so pretty.”

Sooga turned his back to Kohga, giving him access to the hair that fell behind his shoulders, signalling a yes. “I was unaware that you knew how.”

Kohga began to braid Sooga’s long black hair. “One time I got bored and asked one of the Hylian gals to teach me. Some members would let me practice on them. It’s pretty fun.”

“What else have you learned from our members in your spare time?”

“You wanna know all of them? Knitting, playing the ocarina, the recipe for a  _mean_ vegetable risotto, and some yoga poses.”

“I’m hurt that you’ve never showed me any of this,” Sooga joked.

“What, you want me to knit you a sweater? ‘Cause I can! It’ll be the best sweater you’ve ever worn,” Kohga grinned as he tied the braid. “Your hair’s done. You should wear it like this, it’s nice.”

“I’m holding you to that sweater,” Sooga beamed. “Well, I can’t see the braid, but I’m sure it’s splendid.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Kohga bowed. “Let’s get to sleep soon. Gotta big day tomorrow.”

****

“Now this is a fun disguise,” Kohga said in Urbosa’s voice, disguised as the woman. “How do I look?”

“Very convincing, Master Kohga,” Sooga said, in the voice of a Gerudo vai’s, for he was disguised as well. “I’ll meet you on the balcony in... about a half hour?”

“Yep! Sounds good. See you there.”

And so Kohga arrived in Gerudo Town. Though confused by Urbosa’s early return, the town was otherwise unfazed and oblivious. Kohga relaxed on the balcony, admiring the view of the town, awaiting Sooga’s arrival. He’d heard plenty about Gerudo Town from his spies, but had never seen it for himself. He found it quite nice, and almost felt pity for the soon coming disruption of the peace. Almost.

“Chief Urbosa,” A guard approached Kohga and bowed.

Kohga turned to inspect the guard, and smiled. He lowered his voice to avoid detection by listening ears. “Glad to see you made it in one piece. Did anyone question you?”

“They only asked for my name. I told them it was Itaina, my late grandmother’s name. I said I wished to speak to the chief, and now I’m here.”

“Hmm, that’s surprising. Perhaps they’re too busy to be suspicious. But, speaking of, you haven’t told me much of your Gerudo ancestry.”

“What do you wish to know?”

“I don’t know, the effect it had on your life, maybe?” Kohga playfully nudged Sooga.

“Hmm, well, my mother grew up here, in Gerudo Town. As most of her kind do, she left town when she was a young adult to find love. She met my father in Hyrule Castle Town, and there they settled and had me. My mother held Gerudo culture very dear, and made consistent efforts to educate me and expose me to it. I do know a good amount of the language.”

“Ooh! Teach me something in Gerudo.”

“ _Ina ahborq_ , ” Sooga said.

“Ina ahborq... ina ahborq... I think I got it,” Kohga smiled. “What does it mean, anyway?”

“It’s um—a greeting. A special greeting, one you would say to me but not one of your footsoldiers, or anyone else really. Just say it to me.” Sooga stammered.

“Chief Urbosa,” A guard joined the pair on the balcony and inspected Sooga. “I don’t recognize you, vai. What’s your name?”

“Itaina,” Sooga replied calmly.

The guard raised an eyebrow, but looked back to Kohga. “No matter. Princess Zelda approaches, accompanied by a knight and Lady Impa. Shall we let them in?”

“I order an attack on the party. Show no mercy.”

“I—what? Why?” The guard asked, taken aback.

“Do not question me. Princess Zelda is our enemy. You heard me, now go.”

“Y-yes Chief. You—“ The guard looked to Sooga. “Itaina, was it? Come along. We’ve got no time to waste.”

Before leaving to join the others, Sooga gave Kohga a quick nod—the plan was taking its course. 

Kohga took his seat in the palace. He had no doubt that the enemies would push through the soldiers and reach him, and he didn’t mind this—for he wished to finish off Zelda himself. Now all he needed to do was wait.

Sooga observed the knight, Link, as he fought the Gerudo soldiers. He took mental note of some of his moves and patterns before fighting him directly. Sooga had the upper hand for most of this fight, dodging the slashes of his sword and staying light on his feet. But wearing the disguise of a Gerudo soldier meant that he could not fight with his two blades as usual, rather one scimitar; he lacked the skill in fighting this alternate way, and Link was able to create an opening and jab Sooga’s shoulder with the edge of his sword. This attack did not seriously injure Sooga, but did the job of causing him to lose strength in his arm, and to bleed out of a shallow but large scar.

Typically, Sooga would have continued fighting and waited to treat the injury later. But he was inexperienced in fighting while in disguise, and he knew holding his disguise would quickly exhaust him while injured. He decided he’d temporarily hide outside the town, remove his disguise, wrap the wound, then return to Kohga.

Zelda, Impa, and Link were persistent, pushing through the hordes of soldiers as Kohga expected. The three rushed into the room where he awaited them.

“Urbosa!” Zelda called out, fear and confusion in her voice. “Why? What are you doing?”

Kohga smirked and got up from the throne. “Thwarting your destiny, of course,” He drew his scimitar from its scabbard, pointing it at the princess. “...Princess Zelda.”

Kohga ran to attack the terrified Zelda, when a sudden jolt of electricity coursed through his body, freezing him in place for a moment before his limbs grew limp and he fell to the floor.

He didn’t lose his consciousness entirely, but felt deprived of his senses briefly, but what he was able to hear filled him in—the real Urbosa had arrived. Once he started to regain feeling in his limbs and composed himself (as much as one could after being struck by lightning) he muttered the incantation to remove his disguise and planted his hands on the floor. “You’ve got some nerve thinking you can go toe to toe with Master Kohga!” He picked himself back up. “I’ll show you!”

It was time for the backup plan. He summoned the Yiga Clan, a few footsoldiers now surrounding him, with others soon to come. But he couldn’t fight like this, not with his limbs still feeling like Chuchu Jelly. He needed to recharge first. “Yiga, assemble! Me excluded, of course.” With the quick use of a smoke bomb, he vanished and made his way to a Yiga outpost near the town, a safe place to rest—for now.

He did some yoga poses, trying his best to take back strength and stability in his body. After some intense stretching, he felt strong enough to fight—still weaker than usual, but he figured this would suffice. Part of the backup plan was for Sooga to join Kohga as reinforcement, and stay close to him; but he still hadn’t shown up.

A blademaster appeared in the outpost. “Master Kohga! The enemies approach. Many of our soldiers were forced to retreat due to a Molduga. We are unaware of Sooga’s whereabouts. What do you wish to do?”

Kohga groaned and did some last-minute arm circles in preparation. “Let them in, I can handle this.”

Kohga soon realized how outmatched he was by Zelda’s party, now accompanied by Urbosa; he could’ve stood a chance if not in a weakened state, and with Sooga by his side, but this day lacked fortune for the Yiga Clan. He tried his best to stall, praying to Hylia that Sooga was on his way, buying himself enough time to get saved. But as he was cornered against the rock by the four of them, his hope rapidly declined. “Gah! How could these losers defeat me?”

Urbosa pointed her scimitar at Kohga and leaned in, ready to strike. Kohga gulped, but then something—or _someone_ —suddenly appeared atop the rock pillar. Kohga looked up to see Sooga, undisguised, running down the pillar and charging at Urbosa. After she forced him back, he ran to attack both Link and Urbosa, then performed his special move: slashing an X with his two blades, knocking Link and Urbosa back with its immense force. He turned to face Kohga behind him. “Master Kohga.”

“Sooga, you’re late! I nearly got peeled like a banana!” He flailed his arms. “Woah—“

Sooga scooped up Kohga and threw him over his shoulder; something he’d done many times before. “Forget these cowards. It’s time to retreat.”

“I think not!” Urbosa retaliated, rushing straight at the pair, but they’d already disappeared behind a smoke bomb.

They stopped behind a rock a safe distance from the town to take a breather. “Woah,” Kohga exhaled. “That was intense.”

“Are you hurt?” Sooga asked, leaning close to inspect Kohga.

“Badly? No. That lightning did a number on me, though. I still feel pretty weak.”

“It’s my fault,” Sooga grumbled. “I was hurt in battle and withdrew for a moment too long. I should’ve been there for you far sooner. If only Urbosa hadn’t returned...”

“Hey, don’t blame yourself for this,” Kohga rested his hand on Sooga’s shoulder and leaned on it to help himself back to his feet. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Astor’s. Let’s just get back home already, everything will be fine.”

****

Later they met back in the war room with Astor, Kohga back to his usual self, humming a tune and sitting in his chair the wrong way, kicking his feet over the edge, Sooga beside him.

“So, you turned and fled, is that it?” Astor hissed.

“Well, if they hadn’t interrupted me...”

“It seems that, as low as my expectations were, I was overly optimistic,” Astor rose from his seat, and Kohga sprung up from his chair in defense, as well as Sooga who took his defensive position, grabbing the hilts of his blades.

Astor turned to face the front of the war room, which was enough for Kohga to let his guard back down and take his seat again, though Sooga didn’t move. “Well, no matter,” The sorceror raised his ancient core to the harbinger. “My harbinger... show me the future.”

The guardian bursted with malice, and presented images of a corrupt future; a future of Calamity Ganon’s rule. “The future as it will and must be,” Astor stated, admiring it. “I will not allow anyone to alter its course.”

Kohga cleared his throat. “This is just one loss. We can recover and adapt.”

“Correct, Master Kohga,” Astor’s eyes stayed fastened to the harbinger. “The Yiga Clan will play its part very soon.”

“Okay, well, um, meeting over?” Kohga asked this as a question rather than an order, and looked to Sooga, who started to relax and removed his hands from his blades.

Sooga nodded. “It’s getting late. We can discuss our next course of action when it is called for.”

Astor didn’t respond, which the others intepretated as his agreement to the meeting’s dismissal.

The pair left and made a trip to the nursing wing to check in with the injured. “What’s the report, Podra?” Kohga asked the medic.

“Everyone survived this battle, fortunately. Most aren’t hurt too horribly, but some will need quite some time to recover. If we are to be efficient, I will need extra support in aiding the wounded.” Podra replied.

“How about we recruit some of the newer members to train under Podra?” Sooga suggested. “Those who have made slower progress in combat training can assist Podra to help the others get back on their feet quicker.”

“Great idea, Sooga! Now that I think about it, we should’ve had more people on the nursing team all along. Some recruits just aren’t cut out for battle, but they can still help out this way. I’ll send them in tomorrow.”

The Yiga Clan spent the rest of the day sulking in their defeat. Even Sooga and Kohga didn’t talk much to one another either, both deep in thought and too drained to speak.

“I guess I was too optimistic to think it’d be that easy,” Kohga said that night, standing out on his balcony, overlooking the open cavern.

“They took us by surprise, Kohga. We were just a hair’s breadth away,” Sooga reassured. “But a failure is the first step to our victory. I have no doubt that we will achieve our goal.”

“How’s your shoulder? Podra clean it up alright?” Kohga changed the subject.

“Yes, I feel fine. This arm’s still slightly weaker, but I am ambidextrous after all.”

“That’s awesome, pal. Love who you love.”

Kohga’s silly joke broke Sooga’s serious demeanor, and he laughed; a hearty laugh that warmed Kohga’s heart to hear. “Shall we be off to bed?”

“Yup,” Kohga stretched and yawned. “I’m real tired out from today.”

“As am I,” Sooga clutched Kohga’s hand and led him back into the quarters. “Let us rest, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> was thinking about that one meme where someone said theyre ambidextrous and the other person was like “thats wassup bro love who you love” ........ anyways not me writing tender scenes of kohga and sooga before bed in every chapter....... i love their soft moments pls


	4. fond memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kohga and sooga are reminded of old, happy memories as dark times approach. they’re unaware of how little time they have left together before the world falls to chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’ve been wanting to write some flashbacks of kohga and sooga’s relationship, so here are some! i’ll probably be including more later as well. this is kinda a filler chapter but it’s definitely nice to see more depth to their relationship :)  
> cw for alcohol consumption!! nothing serious or bad but be aware

Sooga stood guard outside of Kohga’s training room, where Kohga practiced his magic inside. Sooga couldn’t help but peek a few times, for he loved to watch his moves. “Hey!” Kohga called out, catching Sooga off guard. “Come in here and spar with me, wouldja?”

It’d been a few days since the failed mission, and both Kohga and Sooga had recovered their strength. Sooga already noticed improvement in the other’s coordination, for Kohga had been putting in extra practice. Sooga held up a good fight, but Kohga pulled off a sneaky move that threw him off balance, making Kohga victorious in their spar.

Kohga offered out his hand to Sooga and helped him up. “Whew! Getting close to my naptime.”

The pair left the room and made their way to an upper level overlooking the open hall where the clan trained vigorously. Sooga squinted and noticed Astor observing the trainees, standing still with his hands behind his back. This wasn’t new—the sorcerer had been observing much of the training since their defeat in Gerudo Town—but Sooga couldn’t help but feel unsettled with his presence. “He’s like a bug on the wall that everyone’s too scared to swat out.”

“Hm, I mean, he’s just observing. Not much else to do. But I guess I get what you mean.”

“I’m still... uneasy, is all.”

“Well I have an idea,” Kohga spun on his heel to face Sooga. “Sleep with me.”

“I—what?”

Kohga snorted. “Not like that. I mean, not  _right now_ at least—but a nap. I was gonna take my nap soon, how’s about you nap with me? Might help you relax a little.”

“Well, I’d love to, but shouldn’t someone be keeping guard?”

“Hmm, if you’re that concerned, I can ask a blademaster to cover for you. But even then, we really don’t need a guard. I really doubt someone’s gonna throttle us in our sleep.”

Sooga stayed silent.

“Yeesh, you really do need that nap. C’mon. You head over to my quarters and I’ll get someone to guard. I’ll be there soon.”

Sooga wasn’t able to fall asleep; his strict sleep schedule didn’t allow for a midday nap. But Kohga fell asleep with his head on his chest and that was enough to help Sooga relax. He let his mind wander as the hour passed, wondering what the upcoming plan would be to make up for the failed mission.

Sooga was expected to wake Kohga up after an hour unless told otherwise, so Sooga gently shook him awake when the time came. Kohga groaned and shifted closer to Sooga. “Mm... five more minutes?”

Sooga sighed. “I suppose that wouldn’t hurt.”

Sooga thought of the first time he took a nap with Kohga...

****

“Alright, Sooga, you know what time of the day it is,” Kohga stretched and yawned, heading toward his quarters.

“Of course, Master Kohga,” Sooga replied, following after. He hadn’t yet been Kohga’s right hand for very long, and Kohga’s naptime varied depending on the day, but he would always say something like that when he was ready for his nap, so Sooga picked up on it.

Not long after, Kohga laid in his bed with Sooga standing guard outside. Only a few minutes passed until Kohga called him in. “Sooga, come in here, will ya?”

Sooga did as told, now standing next to Kohga’s bed. “Yes, Master Kohga?”

“For these couple weeks you’ve been my right hand, you’ve been acting too bodyguard-y,” Kohga leaned on his elbow.

“Is—is that an issue, sir?”

“You’re taking your job too seriously is what I mean. You don’t have to be so stiff and stoic all the time. We’re friends! You can talk to me like you’d talk to anyone else. You can relax.”

“Oh... very well, then.” Sooga didn’t know what to say.

Kohga laughed. “Why don’t ya take a nap too, hm?”

“Alright, but—where?”

Kohga patted the empty spot on the bed.

“But where would you sleep, Master Kohga?” Sooga asked, not taking the hint.

“Wow, you’re impossible. We’ll  both be on the bed, silly.”

Sooga silently thanked his mask for covering his flushed cheeks. “Y-you’re alright with that?”

“‘Course I am, I offered! Now c’mere.” Kohga scooted over a bit to make space.

Sooga complied, clambering onto the bed, laying on its far side in an attempt to give Kohga space. He laid stiff and straight, trying to stay calm when his boss  _who he had a crush on_ invited him to share his bed.

Kohga clicked his tongue. “I just told you to stop being so serious all the time and you’re laying here like a dead body. Come closer,” Kohga gently pulled Sooga in by tugging at his arm, and curled up close to him. “This isn’t too weird, right? If I’m pushing a boundary just let me know—“

“N-no! No, this is fine, Master Kohga. I’m alright.” Sooga did  not want to let go of this moment. 

“You sure?”

“Yes.” Sooga exhaled, letting himself relax finally.

“Mkay,” Kohga hummed into Sooga, his face close to Sooga’s neck. “By the way, when it’s just us, you don’t have to call me Master Kohga. Just Kohga is fine and dandy.”

“Very well, Master Kohga. I mean—wait—“

“Ha! You’re funny.”

****

Sooga smiled at the memory. He nudged Kohga awake again. “Your five minutes are up, I’m afraid.”

Kohga grumbled into Sooga’s chest, staying put. Sooga sighed and scooped up Kohga bridal style and got off the bed.

“Hey! A little warning next time?”

“I know you enjoy being carried.”

“Hmph. I hate that you’re right.”

Only a moment after leaving Kohga’s quarters, they ran into Astor. “Good, you’re here. I’m calling upon another meeting.”

Kohga stretched and yawned. “Alright, prophecy man. Show us what you got, I guess.”

“I’ve composed a new plan to make up for your... failure back in Gerudo Town,” Astor said once they’d settled into the war room. “Sooga, you are to strike in Gatepost Town once the princess returns. Your soldiers will set fire to the town in order to create confusion and separate Zelda’s party.”

“Awww, you’re committing arson without me?” Kohga whined. “The one time I don’t wanna leave the job to my underlings...”

“Well, you want to charge up here and relax, don’t you? Sending Sooga off to do tasks for you isn’t uncommon, I hear...” Astor said coolly.

Kohga  _hmpf_ ’d in response.

“According to word from our spies, the princess and her company will arrive in the town in about two days. So we’ll go then, I assume?” Sooga asked.

“Precisely,” Astor replied. “If there are no more questions, that is all I needed to say.”

That night, as the pair laid in bed, trying to fall asleep, Kohga spoke up. “You awake?”

“Yes.”

“You wanna go on a walk?” Kohga turned around to face Sooga, after he’d been the little spoon.

“Right now?” Sooga moved the strands of hair that obscured his eyes. “It’s late.”

“So? I wanna go on a walk. You can bring your swords in case we run across any Stal monsters if you want.” Kohga had already hopped off the bed and was putting on his robe.

“You think your silk robe is going to protect you from the desert chill?” Sooga laughed, tieing his hair back into a low bun after getting off the bed as well.

“I can stand the cold, Sooga. And I don’t feel like actually getting dressed.”

They soon left the hideout from the front, trudging through the sand in Karusa Valley, hand in hand. Lanterns hung above them, dimly illuminating their path. They soon stopped at a rock to sit, still in the soft light of the lanterns.

“Woah, look up,” Kohga nudged Sooga as he looked up at the night sky, which was slowly bleeding red.

“Hmm, must be a blood moon. If we die tonight, it’s your fault.”

Kohga scoffed in feigned offense. “Oh, shush. What’s a guy gotta do to get his lackey to go on a romantic walk with him?”

Sooga laughed a bit, but studied the sky seriously. “It could be an omen.”

“An omen predicting the rise of Calamity Ganon, sure. Exactly what we want!” Kohga exclaimed with a slight shiver. He inched up against Sooga for warmth.

“What was that about being able to stand the cold?” Sooga teased.

“I’m fine, I’m only cuddling you because I want to. My lips  _are_ a little cold, though... wanna help me warm ‘em up?”

Sooga met Kohga’s eyes with a smile and leaned in to lock their lips. It was a strange moment, to kiss his boss under a red moon in the dead of night, but a sweet one nonetheless. Sooga’s hand cupped the nape of Kohga’s neck, underneath a layer of his unkempt curls, while the other hand rested atop Kohga’s opposite shoulder. As for Kohga’s hands, one gently clutched Sooga’s bicep, while the other held the side of his sharp face. Their bodies soon grew warm through the contact, warm enough to suffice in the night’s breeze, but once they’d started they didn’t want to stop.

Sooga’s hand trailed from Kohga’s shoulder to his thigh while Kohga pulled him closer, leaning back onto the desert rock, which wasn’t comfortable, but they didn’t mind in the moment. Kohga broke the kiss to leave pecks along Sooga’s jaw, who hummed contently in response. Suddenly Kohga started to chuckle, and he pulled away, leaning on the palm that held him up, and he burst into a breathless laugh.

Sooga waited for him to be done, staring at him with a fond but annoyed look.

“I’m sorry,” Kohga wiped a tear from his eye, his laughter simmering down. “I just think it’s hilarious that we’re about to fuck  _outside_ _,_ under a fucking  _blood moon.”_

Sooga couldn’t help it—Kohga’s laughter was contagious. “Well, who said that was going to happen?”

“Me. Just now. I’m asking.” Kohga tapped his index finger to Sooga’s chest and traced a circle.

“I suppose this is an opportunity I shouldn’t pass up,” Sooga smiled, lovingly peering into Kohga’s red eyes.

“Hm, well quit your ogling, is that a yes?”

“Was this your plan, Kohga?” Sooga clutched Kohga’s free hand and stroked it with his thumb.

“A quick smooch sesh, absolutely. Anything else I just figured the night would take us where we wanted to go. I had no idea about the blood moon, and I do agree that we should seize this opportunity.”

“It’s settled, then,” Sooga leaned in closer to Kohga. “My answer is yes.”

Kohga pulled Sooga all the way over him, and pointed to his own neck. Sooga followed the signal and started to kiss down Kohga’s neck and chest, lingering a few times to leave hickeys. Kohga lifted his hand and tucked the strands of Sooga’s hair that were falling out of his bun behind his ears, his breath hitching at the feeling of Sooga’s teeth against his skin. The faint sound of crickets chirping reminded the pair of a night they shared together that seemed like forever ago...

****

“Our new numbers look promising,” Kohga said, standing at his balcony one evening. “This is the biggest the clan’s ever been.”

“Yes, things are looking up for us,” Sooga agreed. “We will need to visit the market for food more frequently, though.”

“Eh, no biggie. We can always separate out the trip between a group of people so it’s less suspicious. Maybe we can set up a rotation system for who’s getting groceries when.”

Sooga nodded.

“Alright, I suppose it’s about time. There’s something I wanted to show you.” Kohga turned around and removed his mask. “And take off your mask. We’re going on a walk.”

“We’re leaving the hideout? Shouldn’t we leave our masks on, then?” Sooga followed after Kohga, confused.

“You trust me, right?”

“I—yes, I do.”

“Then take off your mask and follow me.”

Kohga led Sooga through the hideout and out the back, to the open area where the deep pit was located (which had been boarded up to prevent anyone from falling in).

Outside was a picnic blanket and a bottle of wine waiting for them. Sooga looked at the setup and then back at Kohga, surprised. “This—this is for us?”

“Sure is! I wanted to celebrate the Yiga Clan’s recent successes with you, and I figured a picnic would be nice, since we’ve never done anything like it.” Kohga sat down and opened the bottle, screwing the cork off with a small dagger from his pocket. “You gonna sit?”

Sooga smiled and took his seat. Kohga took a sip of the wine and offered the bottle to Sooga, who accepted and drank some as well.

As the sun set they talked and talked, not about the Yiga Clan but about themselves and their lives, like two friends would talk, rather than a boss and his right hand. They felt light and giddy after downing about half the bottle.

Kohga set the bottle down after another sip. “Okay, any minute now...” He studied the open sky above them.

“What are we waiting on?”

“You’ll see.”

The two sat in peaceful silence for a few minutes, until what they awaited arrived. One by one, small yellow lights started to appear, dancing around one another.

“Sunset fireflies...” Sooga observed, admiring them. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen these.”

Kohga smiled, proud of Sooga’s reaction. “It kinda bums me out how our hideout has to be in the caves, yaknow? I love seeing nature-y stuff like this.”

“I do too,” Sooga’s attention soon switched from the fireflies to Kohga. Sooga watched as Kohga admired them, studying his round face that he wished he could see more. Not only did he rarely get to see Kohga’s face unmasked, but he’d never seen him look so... soft. Kohga’s guard was down, he was alone with someone he trusted, and he was admiring Hyrule’s natural beauty. Sooga found himself so captivated with this sight that the urge to kiss Kohga—the urge to kiss  _his boss_ _,_ someone he certainly should not be kissing—overwhelmed him. He’d had this urge many times before, but now it was stronger than ever.

Perhaps it was the alcohol that made him do it; perhaps it was the built up tension that had been driving Sooga insane ever since he met Kohga, but he hadn’t realized he’d kissed him until he pulled away just a second after. He almost thought he’d imagined it, but the sheer shock on Kohga’s face affirmed that this was reality.

“Oh, Hylia—That was ridiculously stupid, I don’t know what came over me, please forgive me—“ Sooga’s mood switched to panic in a split second as he stumbled over his words, terrified of what the silent Kohga would say or do in response.

But Kohga only laughed. It started small and rather quiet, but crescendoed into a deep belly laugh that had him clutching Sooga’s shoulder for support. Sooga watched, perplexed.

“ _Wow!_ I didn’t think you’d do it! I really didn’t think you’d do it! I owe Seddil money now!” Kohga rubbed his teary eyes with the back of his hand and made eye contact with Sooga’s. “I’m impressed, really.”

Sooga couldn’t find the words to speak.

“Okay, okay,” Kohga took a deep breath, composing himself. “Lemme explain. I like you. I have for awhile. And I’ve known that you like me too for awhile. And I  really thought you’d pick up on my flirting, but you didn’t. So I made a bet with one of the blademasters—you know Seddil? And he said that if we had a little booze, and a nice romantic setting, then you’d make a move on me. And I was like ‘no way!’ So we made a bet. And now we’re here. You finally kissed me and I’m losing rupees for it.”

Sooga slowly put the pieces together, utterly baffled. “So... the way I feel about you... it’s mutual?”

Kohga snorted. “I’ve been flirting with you for months, ya big lump. You think I flirt with everyone?”

“Well, I don’t know, I thought maybe you were just extra friendly with your higher colleagues...”

“I don’t cuddle with my other colleagues, Sooga .”

Sooga finally started to laugh too, happy again with relief.

“Now, can we redo that kiss? I obviously wasn’t ready,” Kohga beamed.

Sooga nodded and leaned in, and they shared a tender kiss. Sooga pulled away after a couple seconds, still a bit unsure; Kohga wrapped his arms around him, pulling him closer. “You okay?”

“Yes,” Sooga touched his forehead to Kohga’s. “Just still quite shocked.”

“Heh, believe me, I’m more shocked about you kissing me first,” Kohga kissed Sooga again, a longer, loving kiss that tasted of wine.

They spent another hour or so cuddling and finishing off the bottle, admiring the fireflies and listening to the distant crickets’ chirp. They didn’t talk as much now, but enjoyed their closeness and kissed some more, tipsy off not only the wine now but the joy they felt from finally being romantic with one another, something both had wanted for a painstakingly long time.

They then headed back to Kohga’s quarters, changed into their sleepwear and feel asleep in Kohga’s bed, Kohga’s arms wrapped tightly around Sooga’s torso, his head resting on his chest, and Sooga’s arms holding Kohga close, and their legs intertwined. That night, they slept better than they’d ever slept in years.

****

“We can’t fall asleep out here, we really should head back,” Sooga said, which also meant  _this rock is really uncomfortable and you have it easy because you’re practically laying on top of me._

“Carry me?”

“Not all the way back,” Sooga picked up Kohga and heaved himself off the rock.

“Mmm, alright...”

At their return they collapsed onto the bed, far more exhausted than when they’d left.


	5. vulnerability

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after sooga’s mission in gatepost town is unsuccessful and he ends up injured, astor decides to take over for the mission of killing zelda, giving kohga and sooga an opportunity to relax a bit while sooga recovers. they take advantage of this opportunity by going on a date, and kohga ends up opening up to sooga.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw // alcohol consumption  
> two characters will drink alcohol, and one will become drunk.  
> also!! link is non binary in this fic, and uses he/they pronouns. i only used he/him previously bc i honestly just forgot, but i’ll be using he/they for them now. :)

“Hey, could you take off your mask real quick?” Kohga asked Sooga, watching him prepare for the attack on Gatepost Town that was only an hour or so away.

Sooga did as asked, and Kohga removed his mask as well. “I need you to be safe,” Kohga stood on the balls of his feet to kiss Sooga’s cheek. “Don’t push yourself too hard. If something goes wrong, withdraw like I would.”

Sooga gave Kohga a small smile. “Of course. I’ll be back before you know it.”

****

Kohga was used to staying back at the hideout without Sooga. It’d happened plenty of times. Sure, he’d feel a bit lonely, but he still relaxed and felt no guilt for staying back while Sooga and his underlings were out doing tasks for him—as long as said tasks weren’t too dangerous.

But this situation was different. The stakes were higher, and Kohga feared this mission would end up as another failure. He didn’t doubt Sooga’s abilities, he just knew that the enemy had tricks up their sleeve and wouldn’t go down easy. Sooga had planned even more with the blademasters and knew what he was doing, but Kohga feared for the worst.

But regardless, he tried his very best not to worry.

Sooga and the clan had taken their position in the town, disguised as Hylians as they awaited the arrival of Zelda and her party. A Hylian approached Sooga and gave him a signal, which meant that they had arrived.

“Your highness, I bring news,” Sooga said to Zelda and her party after appearing atop the roof of a building alongside some footsoldiers. “It regards your impending death.”

Sooga could already see flames rising in the town. Perfect.

“The town’s burning—we should split up to help escort people out and ward off these Yiga jerks. Little knight, you protect the princess,” Sooga heard the Goron champion say. With that, the group split off, with Link and Zelda fleeing.

“Remember, the princess is the focus. Don’t let the others distract you,” Sooga ordered.

He then disappeared from sight and began the second phase. He disguised himself as a Hylian soldier and inserted himself into battle, everyone too preoccupied with the town’s chaos that they hadn’t noticed Sooga slip in. He passed on the message to another soldier that the Yiga Clan’s leader was spotted in a northern outpost. The soldier believed him without question and ran to pass on the message.

“Fools,” He muttered to himself.

Once a blademaster reported to Sooga that the others had made their way to the northern outpost, he quickly advanced to the front of the town to close in on Zelda. Upon arriving, he noticed that there were far less footsoldiers than he’d remembered.

“Many soldiers fled after the capture of the east and west outposts, sir,” A blademaster told him.

“Hm. No matter now, it’s time to take out the princess.”

Sooga turned a corner and spotted Zelda running, with a group of Hylian soldiers by her side. He revealed himself to her and charged.

He pushed past the soldiers protecting her, knocking them aside with the force of his blades. He’d just reached Zelda and lifted up his blades to strike when—

An arrow flew right at his face. He narrowly dodged it and looked to see the arrow’s source: Link.

“I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.”

Zelda, now a good distance away, helplessly watched as Sooga and Link fought. For the first part of the battle, Sooga had the advantage over him, with his sheer size and power. But Link was more nimble due to their smaller size, and was able to create openings upon dodging Sooga’s attacks and struck his weak points. As the battle carried on, Sooga soon realized that he wasn’t just fighting any knight, but the knight that seals the darkness—he was certain of it. Sooga’s strength faltered, and he acknowledged that he lost this fight; his now bruised rib caused him pain to breathe, and he began to run away from Link, leading him away and keeping a close eye to make sure the princess followed behind. He then lept away from Link and vanished, waiting a few moments to throw them off, then jumped off a nearby building and flung three small daggers straight at the princess. But just before they could hit her, a small robot shockingly similar to Astor’s harbinger lept in front of her, and then was pushed aside by Link, whose shield stopped the daggers’ impact. Sooga landed on the ground and studied the scene laid out before him.

“Hm,” He exhaled. “I suppose destiny is at work, then... The future is fickle,” He stood up from his crouched stance and called out to his soldiers. “Yiga Clan, time to go!”

****

“Hmm, you shouldn’t’a let them get so close...” Kohga inspected Sooga’s wounds, sitting on the empty infirmary bed closest to his.

“I had no choice. Link is a fierce fighter. I believe he is the knight who seals the darkness,” Sooga replied, gently pressing down on his bruised rib to test its sensitivity, wincing at his own touch.

“I can believe it. Only someone like that would ever have a chance of beating you,” Kohga playfully punched Sooga’s shoulder, who exhaled sharply at the contact.

“That shoulder is sore.”

“Shit, didn’t realize I punched that hard, sorry babe,” Kohga switched to a more gentle form of affection and held his hand.

“Sorry for the delay,” Podra said as he approached the pair. “You have my full attention now, Sooga,” He looked to Kohga. “It’s dinner, you should go eat while the food’s still hot.”

“No way, Sooga and I always eat together. I’ll stay here until you’re done and he can eat too.”

“Please, Master Kohga,” Sooga gazed at him softly, for his mask was removed. “Go eat. It’s alright.”

“If you wish, you can bring Sooga his dish on your way back,” Podra suggested as he prepared his medical tools.

Kohga sighed and nodded, now heading to the dining hall.

Upon retrieving his meal, he didn’t immediately eat it, but instead took it with him, along with Sooga’s meal of course, back to the nursing wing. Podra must have finished fixing Sooga up, for he was tending to a footsoldier’s wounds a few beds away, and Sooga, now in a loose tunic with some bandages peeking through the sleeves, sat upright against his pillow he’d propped up behind him. Upon seeing Kohga, Sooga gave him a sweet smile, which made his heart flutter.

“Dinner,” Kohga set down Sooga’s plate on the table next to his bed, and took his seat at the edge of the bed, setting his own plate on his lap as he removed his mask. He then spun around so he could see Sooga, crossing his legs and eating over his plate. “What’d Doc say?” He asked through a mouthful of seafood paella.

“No permanent damage, but in order to recover as fast as possible, I’ll need to lay low for the next month or so.” Sooga said after his first bite.

“The next  month!?” Kohga went to stamp his foot, but then remembered he was sitting with crossed legs on top of a bed. “We’re gonna have to find things to do while you recover.”

“Kohga, you don’t have to constantly stay by my side. I deeply appreciate the gesture, but I should not be your priority. You must focus on what’s important while I recover. We need to make up for my failure at Gatepost Town.”

Kohga frowned and studied Sooga’s face. His long waves framed it, falling messily past his upper chest. He wore a weary look, but met Kohga’s eyes with pure love in his own. Seeing Sooga so vulnerable overwhelmed Kohga with the desire to hold him close and smother his face in soft kisses and never let go. There was so much Kohga wished to say in this moment—that Sooga  _was_ his priority—that  _he_ was the important thing—but he couldn’t find the words. He broke eye contact and took another bite of his food. “Are you excused to  sleep back in your quarters or does Podra want you here?” He finally asked after a good minute.

“Quarters.”

“Heh, well you best believe I’m gonna cuddle the  fuck out of you,” Kohga regained his composure. “Podra told me to do it himself. It’s prescribed. Sorry, nothin’ I can do about it.”

Sooga chuckled. “Thank you.”

About a half hour later, the pair met up with Astor back in the war room.

“Foolish,” Astor muttered, pacing around the long table. “I thought that surely you could complete this task,” He glared at Sooga. “But it seems, yet again, I overestimated your abilities. But I will not make such a witless mistake again. I will finish off the princess myself, and that will be the end of this ongoing task. There is no need for you to take part in the planning of this, so I suppose you can relax a bit while I prepare, though the relaxation would be rather... undeserved.”

Kohga stretched. “Mkay, you done?”

Astor scoffed. “Well, yes, I suppose I am.”

Upon leaving the room, both Kohga and Sooga snickered.

“Messing with him is funny as hell,” Kohga laughed. “Hey, we lucked out, he’s takin’ over and now we got some time to ourselves. We can leave all the complex planning to him. Ha!”

“Yes, it is nice to relax, but we must be on guard. Something tells me that leaving that sorcerer alone for too long is... dangerous.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye on him,” Kohga waved his hand dismissively. “Let’s get to bed, mkay?”

****

“Hey, you wanna do something fun?” Kohga asked a couple days later as he ate breakfast with Sooga.

“I—well, I suppose we have the time for it... did you have any ideas?”

“...I didn’t get that far. Lemme think, hmm...” Kohga chewed his vegetable omelette in thought. “What about we spend a day in Gerudo Town?”

“...What would we do there?” Sooga asked.

“Well, obviously disguise ourselves as some tourists, maybe two Hylian ladies, do some shopping in the market... there’s a real nice bar there, apparently we _have_ to try the Noble Pursuit... stay at the inn, y’know,” Kohga waved his fork around as he spoke. “How’s that sound?”

“It sounds perfect,” Sooga smiled. “Shall we go today?”

“Might as well, we only just woke up. I’ll go talk to Jerro ‘n tell her we’ll be gone so we don’t scare everyone. You can go and start packing,” Kohga stood up and stretched.

Sooga nodded and the pair split off.

“Hey, Jerro,” Kohga greeted the head blademaster, who was still eating her breakfast.

“Oh, hello, Master Kohga. What’s going on?” She looked up, curious.

“Sooga and I are heading out for the day and won’t be back till tomorrow. I’m leaving you to run this place while we’re gone.”

“Alright then, got it. You can count on me,” She smiled.

“I know I can. Try not to miss me too much,” Kohga winked as he left.

Kohga laughed as he returned to his quarters to see Sooga packing a large backpack. “I really don’t think we even need that much stuff. It’ll only be one night.”

“I figured we’d take a couple extra precautions,” Sooga packed in a few bananas. “Also, we’ve never slept in a disguise. How will that work?”

“I’m assuming we’ll get our own room at the inn, so what we can do is once we’re settled in for the night, we’ll remove the disguises and sleep normally. We’ll tell the innkeeper not to wake us up until noon, and since you’re always awake a good few hours earlier, you can just make sure to get me up before then, and we’ll disguise ourselves again before we leave the room,” Kohga planned aloud.

“...and what if we don’t have a room to ourselves?” Kohga crossed his arms.

“...We’ll figure that out. Anyways, lemme help you pack. What else do we need?”

****

On their way to the town, the pair came up with their disguised personas. Kohga was Nasha, and Sooga was Orie: a Hylian couple on their honeymoon, visiting Gerudo Town for the day as one of many sights to see throughout Hyrule.

The guards at the town’s entrance stopped them before they stepped in. “Tourists, I assume?” One asked.

“We sure are,” Kohga replied. “Just staying for the night.”

“Ooh, are you going to The Noble Canteen? You  need to try the Noble Pursuit,” The other guard said excitedly.

“We will, thank you,” Sooga nodded and smiled.

“Come on in,” The guard withdrew her spear and let them enter.

Sure, Sooga had been to the town before, but only on a serious mission where he couldn’t take the time to admire it. But now he was here, in the town his mother grew up in, the town he never got to see for himself. And best of all, he was with Kohga. He felt Kohga’s hand brush against his, and then start to clutch it, and Sooga followed through and held his hand.

Kohga looked around, studying the bustling market. “Well, what first?”

Sooga eyed the jewelery shop, Starlight Memories, and pointed to it. “There?”

Kohga squealed in excitement and pulled Sooga over to the shop.

The two browsed, and Kohga found himself staring at the pair of opal earrings on display. “S—I mean Orie, come look at these.”

Sooga walked over and inspected the earrings. “Would you like to buy them?”

“Well, yeah, of course, but can we afford it with what we brought?”

Sooga consulted the shopkeeper. “Sav’otta, miss. How much do the opal earrings cost?”

The shopkeeper smiled. “Not bad Gerudo for a Hylian vai. Though I suppose everyone can say sav’otta. Those earrings will cost two hundred rupees, in addition to eight opals.”

Kohga grumbled. “Eight opals...” But then looked up to see Sooga at the front desk, emptying opals out of his backpack and setting them on the counter.

“Six, seven, eight... One moment, I’ll get the rupees...”

Kohga watched in awe as Sooga paid.

“Perfect! I suggest you come back in a couple hours or so. It should be ready by then. Sarqso!” The shopkeeper smiled.

Sooga nodded and made his way back to Kohga. He took his hand again and led him out the shop.

“You packed opals?  Eight of them?” Kohga looked at him, astonished.

“I packed twelve, actually, there’s four left in there. And you thought packing extra things like that was silly,” He teased.

Kohga raised his hands in defeat. “Okay, okay, I’m dumb, you’re smart, yadda yadda yadda. Thank you for buying those for me.”

“Of course. You deserve nice things, Nasha.”

They continued to browse other shops, and while looking at clothes in Fashion Passion, Sooga overheard a quiet conversation between two women, in the Gerudo language. He couldn’t make out every word, due to their hushed tones and the fact that he wasn’t fluent in the language, so he heard bits and pieces:

“I finally found out the password... Gerudo Secret Club...”

“You did? ...Tell.”

“GSC, and the diamond symbol.”

“Ha, not... smart to include... initials in the password...”

The women both headed off, and Sooga sneakily watched as they approached the door which must have been the door to the club, stood in front of it for a moment to say the password, then were let in, the door quickly shutting behind them.

Sooga tapped Kohga’s shoulder. “Are you done here?”

“Yeah, why? Somewhere else you wanted to go?”

“...Yes, but let’s wait a few more minutes. In the meantime, how about some lunch?”

“You had me at lunch, babe.”

Sooga ended up making meat curry after purchasing some ingredients at the market. Sooga didn’t cook much, since the Yiga Clan Hideout had designated chefs to feed them, but when he did, Kohga absolutely adored it.

They found a nice spot on a carpet in some shade and took their seats.

“Mm,” Kohga moaned overdramatically in delight after his first bite, “delicious as always, Orie.”

Sooga rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to make that much noise.”

“But how else do I express my love for your cooking?”

After a nice meal, Sooga led Kohga to the entrance to the GSC.

“So... what is this?” He stared at the door.

“You’ll see,” Sooga said, and then knocked.

“Password?”

“GSC diamond.”

“Very well,” The door opened, and the shopkeeper let them in, making sure the door shut behind them. “Hmm, you two are interesting. Tourists rarely know about this place.”

“I heard a few things,” Sooga replied, looking at the armor on display. “This shop is illegal, right? Since male clothes aren’t allowed to be sold here?”

“Correct. And I sense that this is the perfect place for you two,” The woman replied.

Kohga shot a nervous glance at Sooga. “What do you mean?”

“I know who you are. You’re intruders. Enemies to our people, disguised as simple Hylians. I could turn you in to Lady Urbosa right now, but I would likely expose my shop if I did so,” She laughed, but Kohga and Sooga were incredibly uneasy. “Now tell me, why are you here, Yiga Clan?”

Kohga cleared his throat awkwardly. “We’re on a date.”

“Is that so? You know, I’ve heard rumors that the leader of the Yiga Clan and his right hand are a couple. And I can tell you aren’t lying. So why don’t you remove your disguises for a moment? No use shopping here if you can’t get your armor properly tailored to fit you.”

To Sooga’s surprise, Kohga shrugged and revealed himself. “Well, c’mon Sooga.”

Sooga did the same.

“Huh... are you Gerudo?” The shopkeeper studied Sooga’s face.

“My mother was, yes,” Sooga answered, and then turned to study the Desert Voe armor.

“I suppose that makes you more qualified to be here than your counterpart,” The shopkeeper laughed.

“I should be allowed everywhere,” Kohga muttered.

“This armor,” Sooga ran his fingers along the hem of the Desert Voe top’s sleeve. “It’s meant to withstand the desert heat, correct?”

“Precisely. It’s essential for a day out in the desert.”

“Ooh, Sooga, I bet you’d look sexy in that,” Kohga nudged him.

“This armor would be useful.”

“I can take your measurements if you’d like. Also, if you want your identity kept secret, I strongly suggest you buy from me.”

“Welp, that’s settled, then!” Kohga exclaimed, throwing out his hands.

“I normally don’t tailor my orders immediately,” The shopkeeper started after taking their measurements, “but business is slow and I have nothing better to do, so if you come by tomorrow before you depart, it should be done by then. Payment is upfront, by the way.”

After paying, Kohga and Sooga changed back to their disguises and departed.

“Huh. Well that was a nice lady,” Kohga said casually.

“I suppose that’s one way to put it.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon browsing the market, and then bought ingredients for dinner, and returned to Starlight Memories to pick up the opal earrings. As the sun set, Sooga prepared mushroom risotto.

“Y’know, you could let me help out,” Kohga suggested, leaning against the palm tree near the cooking pot.

“With all due respect, I believe it is safer for both us and our meal that you leave the cooking to me.”

“Hmph. Just because I almost set the hide—“ Kohga fake coughed. “—the  _house_ on fire that one time doesn’t mean I’m completely incapabale of cooking.”

“That is not the only time you’ve made a significant mistake while trying to cook.”

“Whatever.”

They ate their risotto in peaceful silence, leaning against one another as they watched the town’s activity start to slow as night fell. Sooga then made honeyed fruits for dessert.

Kohga patted his stomach, though it didn’t have the same effect as patting his actual stomach. “How’s about we go hit the bar?”

“We just ate, and now you want a drink?” Sooga laughed.

“Well, we’ve already seen the town, and the drinks won’t be ready immediately, so why not?”

“Very well, then.”

“Vasaaq,” The woman at the front of The Noble Canteen greeted them. “Hylian vais, I see... you been here before?”

“First time,” Kohga grinned.

“Very well. I’m sure you’ve heard of our Noble Pursuit. A good choice for a first-timer. But if you’d like a personal recommendation from me, the Volt Tonic is one of my favorites. Tastes like liquid lightning.”

Kohga ordered the Noble Pursuit and Sooga the Volt Tonic, then they took their seats on the couch in the outdoor drinking area. Outside there already were two Gerudo women, a couple, specifically, for they were holding hands and leaning on one another as they drank.

“I wonder how many Gerudo women end up with other women,” Kohga thought aloud. “I mean, it makes a lot of sense for it to happen.”

“I’ve heard about that,” Sooga said. “It’s quite common.”

“Good for them. It’s nice here. I can see why they wouldn’t wanna leave. I don’t know if I wanna leave myself.” Kohga said this casually, but the thought did make him glum. The day had been so pleasant, so fun. He was able to forget his duties and enjoy himself alongside the man he held dearest. If he didn’t care for the Yiga Clan as much as he did, he would’ve run away with Sooga already.

Sooga hummed in agreement, and rested his head on Kohga’s shoulder—that was new—his disguised form was shorter than Kohga’s, contradictory to how he was actually taller than Kohga. He wished they could be undisguised, so he could admire Kohga’s appearance out of uniform rather than that of a random Hylian woman’s. But nonetheless, he was content.

They soon received their drinks and were captivated by the taste.

“Holy shit,” Kohga smacked his lips. “This is incredible.”

Sooga took a sip of his own. “I agree. I can taste the voltfruit. Would you like to try mine?”

“Sure! Let’s swap.”

They downed their first drinks rather quickly. They each ordered another, and it wasn’t long before it started to kick in. Kohga became excessively giggly, and Sooga a little less stoic than usual. After finishing their second drinks, Kohga promptly ordered another.

“Another will surely get you drunk,” Sooga warned.

“Pfft, so? I can’t have fun? It’s been way too long since I’ve got drunk. Let me have this, babe.”

Sooga sighed, knowing he couldn’t win. “This will be your last one.”

“Yeah, cool.”

“You better pay me back for your drinks,” Sooga poked Kohga’s nose, who giggled in response.

“Aren’t these  our rupees? They’re not yours or mine.”

“You say that every time.”

After Kohga finished his final drink and they paid, they headed out and walked the streets, the moon rising. Kohga had already started stumbling as he walked.

“Can we stargaze?”

“Yes, but we probably shouldn’t just lay out on the street.”

“What about up there?” Kohga pointed to the town’s inner walls, suggesting the flat surface atop them.

“Hmm...”

Kohga could usually climb a wall that height just fine, but his drunkness made his movements sluggish, so Sooga helped him up. Sooga then made his own way up and they found a spot with extra space near a sand seal pen, avoiding close proximity to the reservoir water.

They laid close to another and held hands as they admired the starry sky.

“Do you know of any constellations?” Sooga asked.

“A few, actually,” Kohga scooted closer to Sooga. “You know Feldo, the blademaster? They’re super into astronomy. Told me a bit about it one time. Lemme look for one of the constellations they told me about...” Kohga pointed to one. “That one! That’s the two lovers. You see it kinda looks like two people holding hands?”

Sooga squinted. “...Vaguely.”

“Well, yeah, it’s not a perfect picture, but you get the gist,” Kohga thought to himself for a moment. “D’you think maybe we could...?”

“What? No way. It may be night, but people are still out and there are lights illuminating the town, we can’t risk revealing ourselves as men, and as enemies to the Gerudo no less,” Sooga spoke quieter.

Kohga sat up and tugged at Sooga’s sleeve. “Ughhh... no one would even notice, they didn’t even see us climb up here...”

Sooga’s tone grew stern. “You don’t know that for sure. We already pushed our luck earlier in the secret club. We can’t test the fates.”

“Hmmmm... you’re no fun...” Kohga’s words’ slurred as he crossed his arms.

“If you’re so eager to get out of our disguises, we can go to the inn and turn in for the night,” Sooga rested his hand on the other’s back.

“A little longer. Stars for a little longer. Then we’ll go.”

“We’d like to stay the night, please,” Sooga said to the innkeeper roughly fifteen minutes later.

“Of course. What brings you here? Any special occasion?”

“It’s our honeymoon, actually,” Kohga leaned on Sooga.

“Oh, congratulations! That’s perfect, because our honeymoon suite is available. You can have a room to yourselves,” The innkeeper smiled sweetly.

Sooga silently thanked Hylia that they would be able to have a separate room. “That would be great, thank you.”

“And would you like the spa treatment? If you don’t wish to do it now, you can do it tomorrow.”

“Yes, tomorrow would be better,”  Sooga eyed Kohga as he danced awkwardly. “You can wake us up at around noon, and we’ll do the treatment shortly after.”

Sooga paid and then led Kohga to their suite. “Sav’orr,” He gave the innkeeper a goodnight wave.

After shutting the door, Sooga released his breath. “I’m honestly surprised you didn’t blow our cover.”

“Hey, I’m drunk, not stupid,” Kohga hopped onto the bed as he removed his disguise. “I was actually thinkin’ about that Gerudo phrase you taught me. I’m trying to remember it... Ina ahborq! That’s what it was.”

Sooga’s eyes widened, and he removed his disguise as well, taking a seat on the bed next to Kohga. “Ah... I... I forgot I taught you that.”

“Hey, now that we’re alone... heh... do you wanna... y’know...?”

Sooga frowned. “No, Kohga. You’re drunk and I’m not. It isn’t a good idea.”

“You’re no fun...” Kohga whined, grabbing onto and tugging Sooga’s arm. “Please?”

Sooga cupped his hand around Kohga’s face. “My dear, you told me to never let you do anything stupid while drunk. It is far wiser to not do something like this unless we are both sober. You understand, don’t you?”

Kohga stared into Sooga’s eyes as his own began to water. His head fell on Sooga’s shoulder and he shook as he cried.

“Kohga...” Sooga held him, rubbing his back with one hand and holding his head with the other. “Did I do something wrong?”

Kohga wept into Sooga’s shoulder a moment longer, then drew back and wiped his nose with a loud sniff. “No... You... you’ve done everything  right ... no one’s ever done everything right...”

Sooga didn’t know how to take this. He’d seen Kohga upset before, he’d even seen him cry—but never like this. Though Kohga was an incredibly expressive person, he rarely ever expressed his emotion through tears—not with Sooga around, at least. “I don’t understand, Kohga.”

Kohga took a shaky breath, and Sooga helped him wipe his eyes, but the tears hadn’t yet stopped. “No one’s ever cared about me as much as you do, Sooga. I... I’ve never been so close to anyone. Especially not,” Kohga’s voice broke. “Especially not like this. If—if this had happened with anyone I’ve been with romantically in the past, they wouldn’t have... they wouldn’t have turned me down like you did. They wouldn’t have cared.”

Sooga held Kohga’s face with his hands, using his thumbs to wipe his tears. Kohga shut his eyes and leaned into Sooga’s touch.

“I used to let people take advantage of me,” Kohga continued. “B—because I was lonely. I’ve always had the clan, and I felt like I was being ungrateful for feeling that way. I tried...” He sniffed again, trying to slow down his runny nose. “I tried to fill the void. I tried to pursue people, but... they just saw it as a fling. But you, Sooga...”

Kohga looked into Sooga’s eyes and smiled. “You used to just be my right hand, but... you make me feel safe. And not just in a bodyguard way. You’re... you’re my best friend, Sooga.”

Sooga returned the smile and pulled Kohga into a warm embrace. He felt both Kohga’s heartbeat and breathing gradually slow from a fast pace as he relaxed into Sooga’s arms.

Sooga held him for a few more minutes in a content silence. He hadn’t realized Kohga had fallen asleep until he started to snore. Sooga gently picked him up and tucked him in bed. Luckily, Kohga hadn’t bothered to change into formal clothes before disguising himself for the day, so he was already in an outfit suitable for sleep.

Sooga then changed and cuddled up close to Kohga, holding him tight within his arms. The two Volt Tonics in his system sent him to sleep quite quickly, in addition to being tired out from his injury, and they slept undisturbed.

Sooga awoke the next morning, a ray of light shining through a small, high window. He looked to Kohga, who’d shifted in his sleep and had both his arms wrapped around Sooga’s torso. Sooga laid without moving, not wanting to disrupt Kohga’s position. He was unsure of the time, but he figured he better wake up Kohga soon to ensure that they aren’t caught off guard by the innkeeper coming in to wake them up. Sooga gave him a few more minutes, watching his tranquil face as he pushed his curls aside.

Kohga’s eyes suddenly fluttered open, to Sooga’s surprise.

“Oh—I was about to wake you up myself.”

Kohga mumbled something incomprehensible and buried his head in Sooga’s neck. “It’s too early... lemme sleep more...”

“For all we know, it could be minutes away from noon, and the innkeeper is about to wake us up. We should play it safe, love.”

“Hnng, I guess...” Kohga slowly sat up and stretched. “What happened last night? I remember stargazing, and then going back here, and then...” Kohga thought for a moment, trying to remember. “Oh shit. Then  _that_ . Yikes. Sorry you had to see me like that.”

“No, don’t apologize, it’s alright,” Sooga held Kohga’s hand. “I’m glad you opened up to me.”

“Hmm...” Kohga patted Sooga’s arm awkwardly and hopped out of bed.

They changed back into their respective disguises and left the room with their backpack.

“Oh! You’re up early. Would you like the spa treatment now?” The innkeeper asked upon seeing them.

“Ooh, yes!” Kohga jumped in excitement.

After a relaxing treatment, Kohga and Sooga stopped by the Gerudo Secret Club again to pick up their respective sets of Desert Voe armor.

They to the hideout and spent the rest of the day helping out with training to make up for being gone. It was another peaceful day, one of the last they’d have at the hideout.


	6. intimacy & a trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> astor returns from the lost woods mission, sooga reminisces of a memory, then sooga and kohga go on a grocery trip that takes an unexpected turn.

A couple more days passed until it was Astor’s time to shine. That morning, he briefly relayed the plan with Kohga and Sooga, telling them he’d need a few footsoldiers to assist him. He left with the footsoldiers, leaving Kohga, Sooga, and the rest of the clan to wait around at the hideout until their return.

“Alright, tell me, Sooga,” Kohga said after a bite of a banana, for he was having his post-lunch snack break. “Whaddaya think is gonna happen in the Lost Woods?”

“Well, like I have said before, I firmly believe that Link is the knight that seals the darkness. I’d be surprised if he drew that sword today, but I have no doubt that they will be successful in defeating Astor, however it may play out.”

“Yeah, I’m with you. Is it bad that I want him to fail just to see the look on his face when he comes back?”

“Certainly not. We can recover from another failure. That prophet deserves to be humbled.”

Kohga chewed on his banana in thought. “Y’know, someone who’d been planning with him told me that he has these weird malice things as bodyguards that he calls... Hollows, I think? And they’re clones of the champions, plus the knight.”

“And yet he didn’t tell us of these.”

“That’s what I was thinkin’, too. But I figured I’d give him the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure they’ll be useful against the enemy. No use questioning him now, we need to work together toget where we wanna be.”

Sooga sighed. “As always, you are right, Master Kohga. As...  _irritable_ as Astor is, he is a valuable asset.”

Kohga patted Sooga’s back. “I love being told that I’m right.”

They then headed to help out with training. Sooga, unable to do much but tell the footsoldiers what to do and give pointers due to his injury, watched Kohga, meanwhile, who physically helped by demonstrating moves and sparring with a few of them, going easy on them, of course. 

Sooga watched in admiration; Kohga was hard on his soldiers, but in a loving way; one could easily tell that he wasn’t  actually mad at them for messing up that one move. He was patient and fair and pushed them to do their best, but didn’t overwork them or take them too far out of their comfort zone. Kohga treated all of them like family; one of many things Sooga loved about him. It was more than clear how much the clan meant to him.

He found himself reminiscing of a memory.

****

It was between a month or two since Kohga and Sooga had their picnic date and finally revealed their feelings to one another. Though pretty much the whole clan knew of their blossoming relationship, they still made efforts to keep it relatively private, besides Kohga’s casual flirting, of course, since that was to be expected. Every few nights one would sneak off to the other’s quarters, and they’d share a makeout session and some cuddling, but it hadn’t gone any farther than that, as tempted as they were. They both silently waited for the moment it felt right.

That day was one of training; Sooga had just sparred with the blademaster, Feldo, and narrowly beat them.

Kohga cracked his knuckles as he approached Sooga. “Alright, you won against them, but let’s see if you can win against me. Imma have to go easy on you.”

“Very well. Show me and the others how it is done, then, Master Kohga.”

The blademasters and footsoldiers gathered to watch the exciting spar.

Kohga, despite saying he would go easy, ended up having to try his hardest in order to keep up with Sooga. Sooga had greatly improved since their last spar, which Kohga hadn’t properly noticed until he was fighting him directly. But to Kohga’s advantage, he had Yiga magic that Sooga didn’t. After using his signature big glowy blast to stun Sooga for a moment, he took a breather, unaware that Sooga recovered rather quickly and caught Kohga off guard. Kohga didn’t have enough time to react, and had only just started conjuring a shield when Sooga was able to pin him down to the ground, straddling his thigh and holding down his wrists, and... _oh._ That was a suggestive position.

Both of them blushed under their masks. “I  did say I was going easy on you,” Kohga laughed awkwardly in attempt to hide his flusteredness.

“Hmm, with all due respect, I’m not so sure of that,” Sooga teased, lowering his voice so that the cheering soldiers (who were beginning to disperse) wouldn’t hear. He released his grip on Kohga and offered a hand to help him up.

“Ohhh, you wanna kiss me so bad,” Kohga took Sooga’s hand and let him pull him back up.

“And what if I did?” Sooga flirted back with a sudden wave of confidence.

Kohga... didn’t expect this, to say the least. The instances in which Sooga flirted back with him were typically just when the two were alone together with a moment to theirselves—not in one like this, midday, with much of the clan near them.

So of course, Kohga, already aroused from Sooga pinning him down, became a sputtering mess. “W—well you should. I—um. I consider myself very kissable! And I also, uh, demand a rematch! Where I  _don’t_ go easy this time.”

“How about we spar in your personal training room?” Sooga suggested, and began to lead Kohga in that direction by hand, for he hadn’t let go of it after helping him off the ground.

Kohga glanced left and right at the other clan members, confirming that their attention had diverted away from Kohga and Sooga and shifted back to talking amongst themselves and practicing their training.

They entered Kohga’s training room and Kohga shut the door behind them. “Just to confirm, you do know I wasn’t actually challenging you to another spar, right?”

“I’m not that oblivious,” Sooga took a seat on a couch pushed against the wall and removed his mask.

“...You kinda are, considering how long I flirted with you and you thought it was just platonic,” Kohga followed suit and removed his mask as well, taking his seat next to Sooga.

Sooga rolled his eyes and responded by kissing Kohga. He held Kohga’s face and smiled into the kiss.

As they continued they started to feel rather warm and constricted in their uniforms. Sooga paused to remove his blades and outer gear which had been annoyingly clanking and restricting him from holding Kohga close. 

Kohga interpretted this as something Sooga hadn’t thought of. “Oh, are... are we...?”

Sooga’s eyes widened. “Ah, I, well, only if you want to,” Sooga scratched his head. “That wasn’t my intention, but... I believe I’m ready if you are.”

Kohga paused and clicked his tongue. “Y’know what? Yeah. Sure, fuck it. I’m ready.”

Sooga frowned slightly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, yes, I promise. Bit of a spontaneous decision, but that’s what makes it fun. And in my training room of all places, when we’re  allegedly sparring. It’s like we’re sneaky teenagers.”

Sooga chuckled and leaned in to whisper, his fingers now curling around the nape of Kohga’s neck. “Yes, how very... clandestine of us.”

Afterwards they left the training room for dinner, trying so hard not to look conspicuous that they ended up looking conspicuous. Members of the clan found it laughable, albeit in a respectable  “Master Kohga and Sooga are idiots and I love them for it” kind of way. The milestone of intimacy between the pair left them feeling extra giddy.

****

“Hello? Sooga? Spacin’ out there?” Kohga waved his hand in front of Sooga’s face, which he somehow hadn’t noticed until that moment.

“—Oh! Yes, my apologies.”

“Yeesh, babe, you were really out of it. Somethin’ on your mind?” Kohga’s tone softened.

“Us, actually,” Sooga smiled behind his mask. “You caught me reminiscing.”

“Heh, well I’m flattered, but training’s still happening. I got your attention because I figured you could help me help Canta with this one move...”

****

Astor’s return to the hideout a couple days later left the clan gossipping at the rate of a high school. Word spread quick that Link had pulled the Master Sword from its rest to defeat Astor and the Hollows, forcing his retreat. It took awhile for Kohga and Sooga’s frustration in their loss to actually kick in, for they spent a hot minute in pure awe and amusement that not only were their predictions correct, but that Link had outdone himself as well. Sure, they were set back yet again, but Kohga spent a good few minutes laughing over the news once he’d heard it.

“You’ve both fought that grueling knight,” Astor growled as he paced the war room that afternoon. “Did you know they would draw that sword?”

“I had my suspicions, but I had no idea such a defeat would occur in the Lost Woods,” Sooga admitted.

“Did your... uh...  _seeing_ _powers_ not warn you of that?” Kohga asked rather bluntly, contradicting his earlier pledge not to rouse the prophet.

Astor abruptly turned to face Kohga and slammed his fist on the table, his deep eyes giving him a scorning look. “You dare doubt my abilities as Calamity Ganon’s chosen prophet?”

Sooga stepped closer to Kohga’s side, one hand falling on Kohga’s shoulder and the other to the hilt of his blade at his hip, ready to defend.

Astor studied Sooga and took a deep breath in attempt to calm his frustration. “I hope you’re aware of how lucky you are to have me,” He said in a calmer but critical tone, turning back around to face his harbinger at the front of the room. “It is through me that Ganon will succeed despite past faults, but of course I cannot give myself all the credit. The harbinger deserves a good portion of it as well.”

Kohga cleared his throat. “So? What’s the plan, then? You got anything or should I get to it myself?”

“If I may, Master Kohga,” Sooga retreated to his former position. “According to our spies, the champions will soon be holding a ceremony of sorts, and therefore will be positioned back in the castle for some time. While they rest and have their silly royal events, I believe it would be a wise course of action to take this time to train and prepare for our next strike.”

Kohga nodded. “Yes, yes... with the Master Sword, they’re now an even bigger threat than before, and we clearly haven’t been ready, much less now. We’ll take this time to train and prepare, to stock up, all that junk.”

“And in the meantime I myself will work with my harbinger,” Astor added. “There is much to be done here.”

The meeting ceased and the day went on. Kohga announced to the clan that training would now be longer and more rigorous, and downtime would have to be cut short. They couldn’t afford any more losses now.

A tiring week passed and the decreasing food supply required a grocery trip. These trips annoyed Kohga immensely, for they had to be frequent for a variety of reasons. One being that merchants never had that large of a stock at once, and another being that even so, buying out the whole stock felt too suspicious. Typically, there was a rotation and different soldiers would switch out on grocery duty, but Kohga wanted to ensure that the current training wouldn’t be interrupted, so he decided to go himself, along with Sooga.

“Are you sure it’s safe to leave the hideout unattended, Master Kohga? I’m glad you trust me with it, believe me, but this outing will be longer than your previous one.” Jerro asked. She sat with the pair at a table and chairs in the lounge area.

“Hardly, Gerudo Canyon Stable’s pretty close by. No longer than three days.”

“No, there are no merchants there currently. You’ll have to hit Riverside Stable, most likely. Outskirt Stable if you’re lucky.”

Kohga groaned. “Dammit, can’t these travelling merchants stay in one place?”

“That would defeat the purpose of the  travelling part of a travelling merchant, sir.” Sooga said.

“Okay, whatever. We can speed up the trip by teleporting some of the way—“

“I thought you said not to call our ability of dematerializing and rematerializing ourselves in different locations ‘teleporting?’” Jerro tilted her head.

“Yeah, well it’s easier to say,” Kohga continued. “Anyways, it’ll exhaust our power, but nothing some sleep can’t fix. We won’t be able to take horses this way, so we’ll have to walk some of it, but regardless it’ll be quicker. Five days max. And that’s pushing it.”

Sooga placed his hand on Kohga’s arm. “Are you sure this will be safe? If we’re noticed teleporting, our identities may be compromised.”

“Look, it’ll be fine, don’t worry. Jerro, I trust you. We’re leaving tomorrow morning, end of discussion.”

****

Travelling outside of the hideout out of uniform was strange, for Kohga and Sooga felt entirely exposed. They would have disguised themselves if they needed, but considering no one outside of the clan knew their appearances, they would be fine as long as they used different names.

“What about... Agiron?” Kohga suggested between teleports as they made their way through the desert, hardly stepping through the sand, for most of their distance was covered through spritz of teleporting. The sun slowly rose; they’d left early to avoid being seen out in the open using their magic freely, in addition to avoiding the afternoon heat since they hadn’t properly dressed for it.

“I assure you, you do not need to think so much about your alias.” Sooga replied.

“Well, I want one that suits me! Yours works real well. I don’t know if you ever knew a Torrin, or just thought of it on the spot, but it works, y’know? If I’d never met you and you introduced yourself as Torrin, I’d think  ‘Wow, what a suitable name for this man who isn’t secretly Sooga, the right hand of the Yiga Clan.’”

Sooga laughed. “Alright, how about Solki?”

“Hmm, I suppose that works. Don’t wanna exhaust my brain so early in the morning anyway.”

“But you just—“ Sooga shook his head. “You’re a strange man, Kohga.”

“I know.”

After clearing a good portion of the desert, they walked the rest of the way to Gerudo Canyon Stable, making it there by noon.

“Man,” Kohga exhaled after taking a swig of water from his canteen. “I’m already beat. Maybe we should call it a day and spend the night here.”

“Solki, it’s only noon. We can rest for now, but we should cover more ground.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Imma go bother some of the people ‘round here, they look bored. See what’s going on. Care to join?”

Sooga looked to the cooking pot. “I’m going to cook lunch. You go on.”

Kohga wandered about the stable, talking to everyone who was willing. While in conversation with a Rito woman, she said something Kohga hadn’t expected.

“Hmm, I’ve never seen a Sheikah with dyed hair,” She eyed Kohga’s white roots peeking through the hood of his cloak. “I thought that was a Yiga Clan thing, if I heard correctly?”

“Oh!” Kohga coughed. “I’ve heard something similar, but I personally just wanted to try it. I honestly wasn’t even sure it would work, heh.”

“How did you do it?”

“Just used the same stuff I use to dye my clothes and mixed it with water into a sort of paste.”

“Interesting! Now, forgive me for asking a question that’s probably foolish, but do all Sheikah have white hair?” The Rito woman seemed unbothered.

“Ah, no. It’s a common trait, but not the only hair color a Sheikah can have. Just like how we can have darker or lighter skin tones, we can have different hair as well.”

“I see, I see. I’ve hardly ever left the Tabantha region, so I haven’t seen much of Hyrule, I admit. Being here is a big step for me.”

“Are you headed to Gerudo Town?”

“I sure am.”

“You’ll love it, it’s beautiful,” Kohga said, forgetting he, a man, wasn’t supposed to know what the town looked like on the inside. The woman eyed him quizzically. “So I’ve heard, at least, from female friends.”

After talking with some others at the stable, Kohga found out that it was apparently tourist season for Gerudo Town, and a lot of people have been taking the canyon trail recently. Kohga told this to Sooga as he cooked.

“Ah, that may be a problem given our... travel technique,” Sooga lowered his voice, looking around to make sure he wouldn’t be heard.

“That’s what I was thinking. We might risk being seen doing our... special stuff. And that trail is pretty narrow, so we wouldn’t have much to work with.”

“Then we’ll take the safer option until we reach Outskirt Stable.”

“Ugh, gonna have to pay extra to rent horses. But you’re right.”

They ate their lunch and rested a little while longer, then rented their horses and set for the canyon trail.

They chatted as they went along, occasionally passing other travellers, having to discuss topics unrelated to the Yiga Clan in case of nearby ears. But they found that this wasn’t too difficult. Sooga told Kohga more of his Gerudo heritage and taught him a few more phrases.

“Oh, yeah, that one phrase you taught me earlier? Ina ahborq? You told me it was a greeting, but what’s it translate to?” Kohga asked.

Sooga couldn’t tell the truth. “Ah, that phrase is unique because it doesn’t translate over to common tongue. There’s no translation I could tell you that would make sense.”

Kohga laughed. “Heh. Startin’ to think you taught me something stupid instead of a greeting.”

“I assure you, it’s not stupid.”

The sun had dipped behind the highlands when the pair found what looked like the remnants of a camp along the trail, around the far end of the Koukot Plateau.

“Wow, this is perfect!” Kohga admired the area. “We’ve been out all day, we can camp here for the night.”

Sooga frowned. “It’s hardly five p.m., judging by the sky. Why stop so early? If we pick up the pace, we could make it to Outskirt Stable before it’s too late into the night.”

Kohga patted Sooga’s shoulder. “Buddy. Pal. Babe. This is the perfect camp. We’ve been out for, what, twelve hours now? The horses need rest and so do we, even if you may not feel it. You’re still injured, y’know. You can cook up a nice dinner and we can relax and we’ll still make good time.”

Sooga sighed. “Alright, I can’t refuse orders.”

“They’re not orders when I know what’s best for you. Orders are like me telling you to cook up your famous vegetable curry. You brought the ingredients, right?” Kohga tied up the horses to a post.

“Of course. It’s a little early, so let’s set up before I start cooking.”

They set up their tent, which, as far as tents go, was quite luxurious. It was the size of a small bedroom, leaving room to store supplies as well as a large pad that unrolled and served as a mattress. Kohga unfolded a blanket and spread it out, large but clearly not quite warm or heavy enough for the night.

“Gonna have to cuddle tonight,” He said as he ducked to exit the tent, then sat down on a rock next to the cooking pot where Sooga started to work on the meal.

“Don’t we always?” Sooga smiled.

“Heh, sure do. But extra tonight. I’m ordering you to hold me extra close.”

“I’d never refuse your orders.”

A distant chittering noise suddenly echoed through the valley, which Kohga and Sooga immediately recognized to be from a bokoblin.

“D’you think it’s close?” Kohga looked up and around, studying what he thought to be the ruins of a network of bokoblin camps, now starting to doubt that it was uninhabited.

“It sounded far. We should be alright, but be aware. When we go to sleep, we can set up the trap.” Sooga suggested.

Kohga nodded and looked back to the fire. “You think we’ll ever have to go the labyrinth?”

Sooga met his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows. “The labyrinth? What made you think of that?”

Kohga shrugged. “Just was wondering how things would go if we couldn’t climb our way back up in this fight. Say they find the hideout. Displace us. We’d have to head to Lomei. It’s a good backup, but how the hell are we gonna set up camp in a maze—“

Sooga promptly covered Kohga’s mouth. He slowly removed it and pointed to his own ear, then continued to cook.

“I really doubt anyone’s listening,” Kohga said in a whisper.

“Always better safe than sorry,” Sooga mumbled. “But perhaps I am just paranoid. If we must go to the labyrinth, we will figure it out. Please, love, try not to stress too much about it. That’s my job.”

Kohga smiled softly. “I don’t know if your overthinking is gonna end up saving you or killing you.”

“I can only hope it will be the former.”

“As long as I’m here, it will be.”

The sky turned to a pink and purple gradient as they ate in content silence. The distant call of the bokoblin almost sounded peaceful, until the two remembered that they could get ambushed by them at any moment. “You think bokoblins would be attracted to the smell of vegetables?” Kohga half joked.

“To my knowledge, they only eat fruit and meat. So I’d say we picked a good meal to eat for avoiding them,” Sooga smiled back.

The sky turned purple and darkened as Kohga and Sooga’s eyes began to droop and their movements grew sluggish. They kept warm by the fire as the temperature dropped, cuddling up close to one another, talking for awhile then eventually sitting in tired quietude. They soon put out the fire and set up the traps in case of thieving bokoblins or any other threats and settled into the tent for the night, falling asleep almost as soon as they changed into their sleepwear and laid down, Sooga holding Kohga extra close, as he’d ordered.

A few hours had passed when Sooga found himself awake, hearing... a voice?

Sooga slowly sat up and grabbed his blade, which he’d conveniently left close to him in case of situations like this. He listened as the footsteps of the person grew louder, coming closer to the tent—

A yelp from the girl, and she was caught in the bokoblin trap, having tried to enter the tent. 

Kohga sat up abruptly. “Huh? Sooga, what’s going on?”

Sooga moved the tent flaps aside and saw the girl, sitting in the dirt and cradling her leg stuck in the trap, a small lantern on the ground beside her.

“Hey,” She laughed nervously. “Um, nice to meet you guys.”

Sooga frowned. She appeared to be young. No older than twenty. “What are you doing trying to enter two strangers’ tent at this time of night?”

“Can you let me out of this and I’ll tell you?”

Kohga and Sooga exchanged a look. Kohga nodded.

“Very well.”

“I might as well be honest. I was planning to steal from you. Your food, specifically,” The girl said, warming her hands by a fire that Kohga had prepared.

“Are you out of your own food?” Kohga asked.

“Yes. I was travelling with my friends. We were supposed to go to Gerudo Canyon Stable together, but on the way some bokoblins attacked and took them up to their camps. I was just barely able to escape,” She wiped her eyes. “I’m so worried about them. I just was going to steal a little food from you, just enough to last me so I could have the strength to storm up to those camps and save my friends.”

“What’s your name?” Sooga asked.

“Darci.”

“Well, Darci, me and my friend here are very glad our bokoblin trap caught a Hylian instead of a monster. We can lend you some of our food, and you may spend the night here if you wish. Though we cannot help you with getting your friends back, we wish you the best in doing so.”

Kohga pouted. “Soo—I mean—Torrin! C’mere.”

Kohga pulled Sooga aside and lowered his voice. “So we’re just not gonna help this poor girl?”

“Sharing our provisions and offering to let her stay in our camp for the night is help enough,” Sooga replied firmly.

Kohga groaned. “Dude, she’s scared and she’s young and if she tries to face those bokoblins on her own she’ll get captured like her friends, or worse. There are loads of them!”

“We cannot stray from our mission. And for all we know, she’s a spy sent from the Royal Guard to monitor people travelling to and from the desert. She could be onto us.”

Kohga turned his head back toward Darci. “Hey, are you a spy from the Royal Guard?”

“What? No, I’m from Lurelin Village. And I don’t think they even  have spies.”

“See?” Kohga spoke quieter again. “Not a spy.”

Sooga held his head in his hands. “A spy wouldn’t tell us that they’re a spy.”

“Well as your chief I order that we help Darci find her friends. And you have to obey orders. What did you say earlier? Oh yeah— I’d never refuse your—“

“Alright, alright,” Sooga clutched Kohga’s hands. “I do not wish to fight. We shall help her.”

“Okay, so!” Kohga took a seat across from Darci. “Change of plans, here. We’re gonna help you find your friends. Now is actually the best time to strike, because just like us, bokoblins sleep at night. Let’s get you something to eat, and while you eat we’re gonna formulate a plan. By the way, I’m Solki and my buddy here is Torrin.”

They gave Darci a couple voltfruits and a loaf of bread; no luxury meal, but the voltfruit’s high water concentration helped with hydration and the bread made for decent supplement.

Kohga and Sooga got dressed into their stealth outfits; similar to the Yiga uniform, but more casual (they appeared as everyday clothes) and easier to equip. They armed theirselves with lightweight blades (and lent a spare to Darci) and set off.

Their setup, conveniently, was close to the canyon entrance to the bokoblin camps; they were able to use the ramp straight off the ground. They snuck along the wooden path, Darci carrying her small lantern.

Sooga went ahead and, with his acrobatic agility, hopped across multiple platforms to take out the bokoblins standing guard.Kohga led Darci over to a covered area where he suspected one of her friends might be kept—and he was right.

They approached the bokoblin from behind, which faced a Hylian boy sat on the floor staring up at it in fear. The boy saw Kohga and Darci and his eyes lit up as the pair stabbed the bokoblin from behind, ending its life before it could cry out in pain.

The boy watched in awe as the bokoblin collapsed to the ground and promply ran up to Darci and hugged her. “You’re okay!”

“Shh,” Darci patted his back. “I’m happy to see you too, but we gotta get Poka and Milo.”

“Who’s this?” The boy tilted his head at Kohga.

“That’s Solki. I tried to steal from him and now he and his boyfriend are helping me with the rescue operation.”

The boy grinned and offered his hand. “I’m Wes, sir. Nice to meet you.”

Kohga shook his hand quickly. “You too, kid. You should get back to my camp while we get the others. Darci can escort you—“

“Uh, I think Darci already went ahead.”

Kohga turned around to see that Darci had vanished. He cursed under his breath and peered out, scanning the area for her lantern. He spotted her at a lower platform in the distance, charging toward a bokoblin guarding another one of her friends. He looked for Sooga, and then found him booking it up a ramp to get to the final person who was fighting off two bokoblins, stuck on a narrow board, slowly backing toward the edge which hung over the canyon.

“Stay here,” He told Wes.

It seemed that Darci was handling herself well, so Kohga decided to prioritize Sooga. He lept from platform to platform, catching up just in time, for the bokoblins had pushed their enemy to the very edge of the plank. One faced him while the other faced Sooga. Sooga pushed the bokoblin off the edge, who swept at his feet as it fell, almost causing Sooga to fall off as well, but Kohga grabbed onto him and pulled him up, then pushed the remaining bokoblin off.

Sooga reached out and pulled up the boy. He limped as he slowly walked, leaning on Sooga. Kohga retreated back to the larger platform and looked around for any more bokoblins, and then he saw it—a small flame in the distance, and a sizzle sound— _a bomb arrow?_

Oh no. Kohga sprinted back toward Sooga and the boy, watching the arrow’s flame enlarge behind them, and grabbed onto the two and promply teleported all of them away, back to the platform where he left Wes. They watched the explosion from a safe distance.

“Oh my Hylia,” The boy squeaked. “You’re one of those Yiga people, Sheikah can’t teleport multiple people, not like that—“

“Rescue now, talk later,” Sooga helped the boy sit down next to Wes, who was equally astonished.

Kohga was just about to set out for Darci, but saw her leading the remaining friend back up to them, no bokoblins in sight.

“Am I crazy,” The other girl looked from Kohga and Sooga to the ruins of the explosion. “Or did I just see you get blown up, and now you’re right here?”

Kohga, Sooga, and Darci led the others back to their own camp, the Yiga silent while Darci spoke with her friends, the boy Kohga and Sooga rescued being Milo, another Hylian, and the girl Darci rescued being Poka, a Sheikah.

“It’s true,” Kohga sat down back on the rock at the camp. “The magic I used to save Milo and Torrin from getting blown up was Yiga magic. Torrin and I are in the Yiga Clan.”

Darci and the others looked at each other with unease, but didn’t move from where they sat.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be, like, murderers?” Wes asked quietly.

“We work against the royal family and Hyrule’s monarchy,” Sooga answered. “That does not make us murderers.”

“Does make you criminals, though,” Poka stared at the dirt. “But we’re not ratting you out. Not after you saved us.”

Kohga and Sooga simultaneously exhaled a breath of relief.

“You all need to be more cautious out here,” Kohga said after a moment. “Or more prepared. You’re young. Don’t wanna end up losing your life to one of those pig-nosed freaks.”

“Why did you help us? You had nothing to gain for it,” Darci tilted her head.

“Solki here has a bit of a dad-instinct,” Sooga clutched Kohga’s hand. “He sees a young person in need and helps them by default.”

“Stop it,” Kohga laughed. “We helped because we wanted to, that’s all. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if I had just told Darci to screw off.”

“You guys aren’t all that bad,” Milo smiled.

“Your leg, how badly is it hurt?” Sooga asked.

“Ankle’s broken, I think, and my knee’s not too great either. But if I can make it to Gerudo Canyon stable, I bet they can help there.”

Kohga and Sooga looked at one another nervously.

“Kid, they don’t have the type of first aid there to deal with that,” Kohga shook his head. “Kara Kara Bazaar might, but it’s no hospital. Your closest bet would be Gerudo Town, but of course they won’t let you in, even injured. Unless...” He met Sooga’s eyes.

Sooga knew he couldn’t win this, and to refuse the opportunity in front of the four travellers felt far too rude. He nodded at Kohga.

“The Yiga Clan Hideout is in Karusa Valley,” Kohga started. “Keep right once you’re through the desert gateway and look for the big opening past a bunch of old columns. Here, Sooga, get me a quill and paper, will ya? Follow the banners and you’ll get to the entrance to the hideout. Tell the guards that Master Kohga and Sooga sent you, and that Milo’s injured. And you need to say this exact number: 9267. It’s basically a password for a situation like this. They should let you in then. Our medic will fix Milo up, and you all can stay at the hideout while he recovers.”

Sooga fetched Kohga the quill and paper, and Kohga sketched a map for the group, and wrote the password on it. He folded up the paper and handed it to Darci. “Now it’s crucial that no one outside of your group sees this. Understand?”

Darci pocketed the paper. “I... you’re seriously putting your whole clan in jeopardy just so some kid you just met can get medical attention? We don’t know how to thank you... Can we pay you?”

“Keeping our clan’s location as well as Master Kohga and I’s identities secret is payment enough,” Sooga smiled.

_“Althouuugh,”_ Kohga raised his index finger. “If by the end of all this you decide you wanna join the clan, you have the option. We could use some new recruits.”

Kohga and Sooga decided to sleep in an extra hour to make up for lost time. They sent off the group with one of their horses for Milo to ride on to the stable. They wished Darci and her party luck and parted ways.

It was a little tight on the one horse between Kohga, Sooga, and their luggage, but it made do. They weren’t too far from Outskirt stable, anyway; they made it there by noon.

“G’day, ma’am,” Kohga greeted the woman at the front desk. “Do you happen to know if any merchants will be coming by here today?”

“Ah, I’m sorry, sir, none today. You’ll have to go to Riverside. But if you leave soon, you should be able to make it there by nighttime. Gatepost Town may be an option, but since the attack I suspect they are low on supplies...”

“Hmm, alright, I’ll think about that. Thank you.”

Kohga sat by the fire next to Sooga. “Gotta go to Riverside. What’s our plan of action? Horse? No horse?”

Sooga rubbed his chin in thought. “If we are to travel without horse, We’ll have to walk a good distance away from the stable before beginning to teleport. But there are many trees along the path that can make good cover.”

“That settles it! We’ll ditch the horse. But lets grab a bite to eat before we go, I’m starving.”

They ate some bread and fruit, returned their horse, then set off walking. After covering a safe distance away from the stable, the pair began to teleport. Upon getting close to Gatepost Town, they walked again as they approached it, studying the half-functional buildings and gloomy townsfolk walking about.

“Should we pass through?” Sooga asked.

“Yeah. They might be selling.”

Sooga felt remorse walking through the town, seeing the damage he had done now under the guise of an innocent witness. He looked at the overcrowded inn, full because of the people whose houses burned down needing a place to stay. He looked at the merchant who desperately tried to calm a mother and her crying child, saying  ‘Sorry, I’m all out, I’m so sorry miss.’ But he took a deep breath and carried on.

“Excuse me, sir?” A little girl tugged at Kohga’s pant leg. “Do you have any change?”

Kohga knelt down and smiled at the girl, pulling out some loose coins from his pocket. “Here you go, little lady.”

The girl grinned and took the coins. “Thank you!”

“Dad-instinct,” Sooga said as the girl ran off.

“Oh, hush. You would’ve done the same.”

While passing through, the two did spot a few venders selling miscellaneous foods, but agreed on not taking from what the town needed.

“So I guess we did that,” Kohga said solemnly as they continued past the town.

“The Yiga Clan’s cause requires sacrifices. It is not directly your or my fault,” Sooga reassured.

“Yeah, but it’s rare that I ever see the effects of these...  _sacrifices_ firsthand. It’s strange.”

Soon after they teleported the rest of the way, and ended up taking a quarter of the time to get to Riverside Stable than it would’ve taken them on horseback.

They purchased their load from the merchant and relaxed at the stable for the remainder of the day. Sooga cooked a simple but hearty dinner, and they fell asleep sharing the stable’s signature soft bed.

The journey back to the hideout was smooth and uneventful, to Kohga and Sooga’s relief. They made it back in about the same time it took them to get there, making for about a four day long roundtrip.

“Glad to see your safe return,” Jerro patted Kohga’s shoulder.

“Glad to be back. How’s training going?”

“Pretty well, actually. We’re making good practice. I noticed some of your new little friends watching the training here and there.”

“Ah, thanks for reminding me! I should go see how Milo is doing. Sooga, come with, will ya?”

When they arrived at the infirmary, Milo sat up in his bed, talking to Poka.

“You’re back!” Poka smiled at the pair as they approached.

“How are you kids?” Kohga sat at the bed closest to them, Sooga sitting next to him.

“I’m alright,” Milo began. “My leg should be fine, Podra did what he could and said it needs time to heal. I just gotta take it easy.”

“It’s relieving to see you okay,” Sooga nodded.

Kohga looked around. “Where are the others?”

“Darci and Wes? Training room, I think,” Poka replied. “Jerro’s super nice, she’s been letting us mess around with spare weapons. Sickles are so fun to use!”

“Heh, they sure are. Well, Sooga and I have some business to attend to, but if you need anything feel free to take it up with whoever’s available.”

“Thank you so much,” Milo waved.

“It’s the least we can do considering you have to stay in this cold cave,” Sooga waved back.

“Damn, Sooga, d’you hate this place this much?” Kohga nudged Sooga as they departed the infirmary.

“Of course not, that was only a joke. I love any place that I can be with you. Though it does smell like dirt here.”

“Yeah, but it’s like, the good kind of dirt smell.”

“I suppose so.”


End file.
